Will China return Mars samples to Earth before the US does?

Artist's conception of the vehicles that would participate in a Mars sample return by NASA and the European Space Agency.

It appears that China has moved up its agenda for bringing Mars samples to Earth, and aims to do so before the U.S. achieves this same goal.

NASA's Mars sample return plan, a joint effort with the European Space Agency (ESA), continues to be scrutinized. A newly launched strategy review team will advise agency leadership about what to do now and offer recommendations by year's end, or early next year.