[RightWhale]

There is little doubt that within a century, if not less, it will not be possible to be a great power without being a leading player in space.

That is exactly what China said when they announced they were going to the moon, and would launch a Taikonaut to orbit within whatever time period they had in mind, 5 years I think for the orbital mission.

[Brett66]

The Chinese have not been open about their plans in going to the moon. If we see them testing a big SaturnV type booster then I suppose a human mission to the moon would be imminent.
If they have a plan in which they use 3-4 flights for assembly of a lunar ship in LEO, they might have the boosters to do it right now.
Then it's just a matter of testing the basic technologies and they're on their way. I wonder what kind of scheme they're hatching?