Reports trigger age doubt

Doubts over female astronaut Wang Yaping's age were caused by previous "inaccurate media reports", said Deng Yibing, director of the Chinese Astronaut Research and Training Center.

Deng reaffirmed that Wang was born in January 1980 - making her the nation's youngest astronaut in space and the first born in the 1980s.

Netizens and media outlets had cited a report by the PLA Daily years ago that said Wang was born in 1978.

Some netizens questioned which birth year was accurate and whether information was distorted so that Wang would be recognized as the nation's first astronaut born in the 1980s.

Deng said the online information that stated 1978 as Wang's birth year stemmed from "inaccurate media reports".

"All this speculation was made before the information was made public," he said.

"We checked the astronauts' personal information in their residential identity registration records, their enlistment registration records and their personal archives. We will also get the astronauts' signatures on this information," he said.