China successfully launched on Monday a high-orbit optical remote sensing satellite onboard a Long March-3B carrier rocket from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

Gaofen-13, the satellite, was launched at 00:57 a.m. Beijing time and entered the preset orbit.

It will be mainly used for such things as land surveys, crop yield estimation, environmental management, meteorological early warning and forecast, and disaster prevention and reduction, providing information services for the development of the national economy.

The mission is the 349th flight of the Long March rocket family.