According to the news agency, the orbiter lifted off on a Long March-3A rocket at 13:07 GMT from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the province of Sichuan.
Zhao Jian, the deputy director of the Department of System Engineering of China National Space Administration (CNSA), said that the Fengyun satellites would be able to provide high accuracy forecasts and mitigate the consequences of the natural disasters for a wide territory, including China and countries along the "One Belt, One Road".
"We find it a useful, important and promising initiative. This initiative is developing both with our efforts on building the Eurasian economic union… We have good plans for industrial cooperation… railroad construction," Putin said in an interview with the China Media Group, published on its website, ahead of his visit to China.
The president noted that this idea had a global character and was aimed at developing cooperation with all the states and continents.
China's "One Belt, One Road" strategy was first announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013 and is aimed at developing infrastructure and strengthening ties between the Eurasian countries. The initiative focuses mainly on the Maritime Silk Route and on the land-based Silk Road Economic Belt.
