Jing Haipeng is a major general of the People's Liberation Army Ground Force (PLAGF) in active service as a vice-commander of the 82nd Group Army. A fighter pilot in the PLA Air Force (PLAAF), he was selected to be a PLA Astronaut Corps (PLAAC) astronaut in 1998. He was the first Chinese astronaut to have flown on more than one mission and remains the only one to have flown on four. He also held the Chinese record for longest time spent in space from 2016 to 2021 and again from 2023, until his record was overtaken by Tang Hongbo in February 2024.

Shenzhou 7 was the third human spaceflight mission of the Chinese space program. The mission, which included the first Chinese extra-vehicular activity (EVA) carried out by crew members Zhai Zhigang and Liu Boming, marked the commencement of the second phase of the Chinese government's Project 921.