China successfully conducted tests on its new 120-ton-thrust liquid oxygen (LOX) and kerosene engine on Sunday for its new generation carrier rocket, the Long March 5, according to the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

The test was conducted in Xi'an, Northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

The engine was tested to 20,000 revolutions per minute and a high temperature test of 3,000 C that lasted 200 seconds, China Central Television reported.

The high-performance engine is non-toxic, pollution-free and highly reliable.

The engine is much more powerful than the 75-ton-thrust engines of the launch vehicles used to launch the Shenzhou spacecraft.

It also makes China the second country in the world, after Russia, to grasp the core technologies for an LOX/kerosene high-pressure staged combustion cycle rocket engine.

The large-thrust carrier rocket under development, the Long March 5, is expected to make its maiden voyage in 2014.

Xinhua