Beijing  - Chinese officialdom hailed on Saturday the country's first spacewalk as another reason for national "pride and joy," along with the successful conclusion of the 2008 Olympic Games.

The official party organ the People's Daily said that Saturday's spacewalk by astronaut Zhai Zhigang was further evidence of the "nation's continuing technical capabilities," and added that "the small step" by Zhai was "a historic leap in Chinese dreams of space travel."

The spacewalk got under way as Zhai, commander of the three-man mission, slipped out of the Shenzhou VII spacecraft orbiting 343 kilometres above Earth and said, "I feel good."

Zhai waved to cameras broadcasting the event live in China as he left the craft's orbital module head-first at 4:39 pm (0839 GMT).

"I am here greeting the Chinese people and people of the whole world," the astronaut said.

After he was free of the module, fellow astronaut Liu Boming handed Zhai a Chinese flag, which Zhai waved as Earth floated in the background.

He made China the third nation to conduct a spacewalk after the United States and Russia. The three countries are also the only ones to have conducted manned space missions.

Commentators on Chinese state television spoke of "a picture book walk" and a "breath-taking moment."

However, the People's Daily did call for circumspection on the part of Chinese, saying that eventhough the country had now left its "footprint in the universe," the gap between China and the likes of the US and Russia could not be overlooked.

Although Zhai's manoeuvres represented the 298th spacewalk of all time, it was a milestone for China, whose president, Hu Jintao, watched it at the mission control centre in Beijing, where applause broke out as Zhai floated out of the spacecraft.

During his mission, Zhai, 42, tested his 120-kilo, Chinese-made protective suit Feitian - named after a Buddhist goddess, but can also be translated as "flying in heaven." According to various state media reports, the suit cost between 4 million to 30 million dollars.

He also retrieved a 3-kilo solid lubricant experiment from the rear of Shenzhou VII and handed it to Liu as he was tethered to spacecraft by two safety lines and a cord through which were fed oxygen and communications links.

Liu, wearing Russia's Orlan model spacesuit, assisted Zhai in exiting the orbiter while the third and final astronaut on the mission, Jing Haiping, remained in the re-entry module.

Last-minute health checks before the spacewalk showed all three astronauts to be in good condition and tests on the spacesuits showed they were functioning well, mission control said, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

The crew had spent more than 11 hours Friday unpacking and assembling the suits and then underwent 100 minutes of training to get used to the get-ups.

Shenzhou VII, which lifted off Thursday night from the Jiuquan space centre in north-western China, is also to release a 40-kilo mini-satellite to monitor the orbital module and transmit video images.

The spaceship is due to return to earth on Sunday, with the three astronauts to land in Inner Mongolia in a capsule.

Shenzhou VII is the latest stage of China's plan to build an integrated ground-space network for space exploration and manned space research, including a permanent space laboratory by 2020.

It first sent an astronaut into space five years ago. (dpa)