Beijing  - China on Friday launched its Shenzhou VII manned space mission carrying three astronauts whose main task was to complete the country's first spacewalk.

The spacecraft lifted off from the Jiuquan space centre in the north-western province at about 9:10 pm (1310 GMT) on board a Long March-2F carrier rocket.

The scheduled three-day Shenzhou VII mission includes China's first spacewalk on Friday, which is expected to last about 40 minutes and be carried out by astronaut Zhai Zhigang.

President Hu Jintao and other leaders of China's ruling Communist Party watched the launch at Jiuquan. (dpa)