A Chinese lunar probe has returned to Earth with the first ever samples collected from the moon's far side.

The Chang'e-6 touched down in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region shortly after 2pm on Tuesday, completing its complex and challenging 53-day lunar mission.

"The returner of [the] Chang'e-6 mission has landed successfully at Siziwang Banner, at the designated area. I would like to announce that the Chang'e-6 lunar mission has achieved a complete success," said Zhang Kejian, the director of the China National Space Administration.

President Xi Jinping also extended his congratulations on the complete success of the lunar mission.

In a congratulatory message carried by state media, Xi said the "outstanding contributions" of the mission command "will be remembered forever by the motherland and the people".

The re-entry capsule brought back lunar soil and rocks that it spent two days collecting by a drill and robotic arm from the side of the moon that faces away from Earth. It would be brought to Beijing for further studies.

Chang'e-6 blasted off from a space centre in Hainan on May 3, and descended into the moon's immense South Pole-Aitken Basin almost exactly a month later.