China successfully carried out a second live test of a surface-to-air missile system designed to intercept intercontinental ballistic missiles, it said Monday.
The People's Liberation Army conducted a "land-based, mid-course missile-interception test" Sunday, the government's Xinhua news agency quoted National Defence Ministry officials as saying.
The agency quoted an unidentified defence official as saying the test had "reached the preset goal" and was "defensive in nature and targets no other country."
It followed a similar missile test in January 2010.
Military experts saw the two tests as steps towards building a "shield for China's air defence by intercepting incoming ... ballistic missiles in space," the agency said.
Other state media reports said Sunday's test was carried out over the remote western region of Xinjiang.