China launched the third earth resources satellite jointly developed by China and Brazil on Wednesday morning.

The satellite, dubbed 02B, was lifted by a Chinese Long March-4B carrier rocket which blasted off at 11:26 AM (Beijing Time) from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China's Shanxi Province.

The satellite will gather earth resources information and send earth images to China, Brazil and other countries, which can be used for agricultural production, environmental protection, city planning and land resources survey.

This is the third earth resources satellite launched. The previous two satellites were launched in 1999 and 2003 respectively.

(Xinhua News Agency September 19, 2007)