BEIJING, Sept 6 (Reuters) - China on Saturday launched two satellites it said would monitor the environment and help reduce natural disasters, Xinhua news agency reported.

The satellites, fired from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre in northern Shanxi Province, would help forecast and monitor floods, droughts, earthquakes, pest outbreaks on cropland and other disasters, the agency's online news service said (www.xinhuanet.com).

"The launch of these satellites is a major measure to lift our environmental monitoring capabilities," it quoted Environmental Protection Vice-Minister Wu Xiaoqing as saying.

In addition to the usual typhoons and annual summer floods, China has been rocked by a number of severe natural disasters this year that have killed thousands and caused huge economic losses.

After suffering the worst winter snow storms in 50 years, an earthquake struck southwest China in May killing more than 80,000 people and leaving millions homeless.

China used satellites images provided by the United States to help assess damage to roads, reservoirs and bridges in the aftermath of the May 12 earthquake.

Last year, China sent 43 domestically developed satellites into orbit, along with six spaceships and a lunar probe, state media reported last in July. (Reporting by Ian Ransom; Editing by David Fogarty)

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