ISTANBUL 

China has picked a new team of 10 candidates for its 4th batch of astronauts, the China Manned Space Agency said on Tuesday.

The candidates include two from Hong Kong and Macao autonomous regions.

China began selecting astronauts in 1998 when it picked the first batch of 14 astronauts followed by another seven in 2010.

Before its new list of 10, China had picked 18 astronauts in 2020.

China has now 49 astronauts, locally known as Taikonauts.

The newly selected astronauts include two payload specialists and eight space pilots.

The candidates will go through extensive training at the China Astronaut Research and Training Center.