With the two, China has so far launched 13 satellites to form part of the Beidou system.

The Beidou-2 satellites, launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the southwestern province of Sichuan, was boosted by a Long March-3B carrierrocket and has entered the scheduled orbit, the center said in a statement.

It is the first time China has launched two navigation satellites with one rocket, and the two satellites will help to improve the accuracy of the Beidou, or Compass system, it said.

China will launch three more satellites for the Beidou network this year and a global satellite positioning and navigation system will be completed in 2020 with more than 30 orbiters, it said.

Today's mission marked the 160th flight of China's Long March series of carrier rockets, state-run Xinhua reported.