China has announced it will launch its longest ever space mission on Monday.

The two-man Shenzhou 11 mission will dock with the Tiangong 2 space laboratory, where it will spend about a month.

During their stay, the astronauts will test systems and processes for mid-term stays in space and refuelling, and conduct a series of experiments.

China has completed five manned space flight missions since October 2003. The last mission took place in 2013 and lasted 15 days.