BEIJING (Reuters) - China successfully launched a telecommunications satellite on Wednesday aboard an indigenous Long March 3A rocket, the official People's Daily said.

The satellite, the Zhongxing-22, would be used in ground telecommunications and was designed to be in service for eight years, the newspaper said.

The rocket blasted off from the Xichang Satellite Launching Centre in the southwestern province of Sichuan at 0:45 am (1645 GMT Tuesday) and placed the satellite into orbit, it said.

It marked the 18th consecutive successful launch of a Long March rocket since October 1996, the newspaper said.

It was also the fourth successful launch of a Long March 3A rocket since its first maiden launch in 1994, it said.

China's space industry suffered a string of setbacks in 1995 and 1996.

In February 1996, a rocket carrying an Intelsat 708 communications satellite exploded soon after take-off from Xichang.

In August 1996, a Long March rocket placed a $120 million Chinese satellite in the wrong orbit, leaving it drifting hopelessly in space.