China has launched three astronauts into orbit for in a high-stakes mission, the first of four crewed space flights to complete the country's space station by the end of next year.
An upcoming mission to the space station will last six months.
Mr Nie, 56, a former air force pilot, will be the oldest Chinese astronaut to go to space.
"The (mission) is longer this time, and not only do we have to set up the core module — this 'home' in space — we've to carry out a series of pivotal technical tests," Mr Nie told reporters in Jiuquan.
US legislation bars NASA from any cooperation with China, and Chinese astronauts have not been to the more than two-decade-old International Space Station (ISS), which has been visited by more than 240 men and women of various nationalities.
"After the completion of the Chinese space station, in the near future, we will see both Chinese and foreign astronauts jointly participate in the flight of the Chinese space station," Ji Qiming, assistant director at the China Manned Space Agency, told reporters in Jiuquan
China's last crewed flight mission was in 2016 when two men — Chen Dong and Jing Haipeng — were sent via the Shenzhou-11 spacecraft to Tiangong-2, a prototype of the space station, where they later stayed for about a month
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