Telegram on the Successful Launching
(9 August 1961)

Comrade N. S. Khrushchev, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union:

In less than four months since the Soviet Union successfully launched the first manned spaceship, the Soviet Union has again successfully launched a second manned spaceship, creating a new miracle in mankind’s conquest of cosmic space. This brilliant achievement will greatly inspire the confidence of the people of the socialist countries and the people of the whole world in the struggle for peace and the cause of human progress.

Dear Comrade Khrushchev, on behalf of the Communist Party of China and the Chinese people, I extend to you, and through you to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Soviet people, the most sincere congratulations. May the advanced science and technology of the Soviet Union, under the leadership of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, scale new heights.

Mao Zedong
Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China
9 August 1961