The three astronauts on China's Shenzhou-20 spaceflight mission have entered the China Space Station and met with the Shenzhou-19 crew, marking the start of a new round of in-orbit crew handover.

The Shenzhou-19 crew opened the hatch at 1:17 a.m. to greet the new arrivals, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

The six astronauts then took group photos to commemorate the sixth crew gathering in China's aerospace history.

They will live and work together for about five days to complete scheduled tasks and the handover process, the CMSA said.

The Shenzhou-19 crew is scheduled to return to the Dongfeng landing site in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on April 29.