As of 6 a.m. on Sunday, the probe had flown in space for 163 days and was about 130 million km from Earth and about 8.3 million km from Mars, reports Xinhua news agency.
Zhang Kejian, head of the CNSA, handed over the samples to Hou Jianguo, president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) on Saturday, reports Xinhua news agency.
The orbital correction was conducted at 11.13 a.m. when the two 25N engines on the orbiter-returner combination were operational for about 28 seconds, reports Xinhua news agency.
The cargo capsule carrying lunar rocks and soil lifted off from the surface on Thursday, and docked with the orbiter on Sunday morning, the official Xinhua news agency said.
