Interception test a success

Analysts said China's latest midair missile interception test will help Beijing strengthen its air defense capability amid strained relations with some of its Asian neighbors.

The land-based test, which destroyed missiles in midair, was conducted on Sunday. It is the second such test that China has successfully launched within its territory since January 2010.

"The test has reached the preset goal," but it "is defensive in nature and targets no other country", Xinhua News Agency quoted an official from the Information Bureau of China's Ministry of National Defense as saying.