China launched the CBERS-4 satellite, jointly developed with Brazil, on Sunday from the Taiyuan base by Long March-4B rocket, the 200th launch of Long March rocket family.
　
　　The rocket blasted off at 11:26 a.m., lifting the earth resource satellite into its planned orbit, according to the Taiyuan satellite launch center in north China's Shanxi Province.
　
　　CBERS-4 is the fifth satellite in the Chinese-Brazilian Earth Resource Satellite (CBERS) program which began in 1988. They are used in planning and land management, forestry, water conservation, environmental protection and agriculture.
　　
　　The first, CBERS-1, was launched in October 1999 with the second and third, CBERS-2 and CBERS-2B, launched in 2003 and 2007. CBERS-3 was launched last December from Taiyuan but failed to enter orbit after a rocket malfunction. There is an agreement in place to build CBERS-5, which is expected to be launched in 2017.
　
　　Sunday's mission was the 200th since April 24, 1970 when a Long March-1 successfully carried China's first satellite, Dongfanghong-1, into space.