Profiles of Shenzhou XXIII crew

Colonel Zhu Yangzhu, 39, a native of Jiangsu province, was recruited by the People's Liberation Army in September 2005 to study at the National University of Defense Technology.

He was an associate professor at the Space Engineering University under the PLA Space Force until October 2020, when he joined the PLA Astronaut Division as one of China's third batch of astronauts. He is one of the seven astronauts trained as the nation's first spaceflight engineers and the first of them to reach orbit.

In May 2023, Zhu took part in the five-month Shenzhou XVI mission. He made his first spacewalk in July that year.