China's new satellite to enhance global weather forecasting

It can also assist researches on urban economic activities, fire detection and air pollution monitoring, he added.

Other new remote-sensing product on Fengyun 3E involve imaging facilities for solar activities and wind fields, the center said.

All the data can be transmitted to ground systems, five of which are in China and two in north and south poles, in two hours, the center said.

The data will be shared globally as the current data have served 118 countries, the center said.

"The successful launch of the early-morning-orbit satellite enabled China to have its unique feature in the global weather satellite industry and offered a complementary advantage for the international community," Zhang Peng said.

Presently, the country has nine weather satellites in orbits, of which five are geostationary that travel above the equator and synchronous with the Earth and four are polar-orbiting.

Currently, only the United States, the European Union and China have both the geostationary and polar-orbiting weather satellites, the center said.