BEIJING - China on Monday released the first batch of photos taken by Gaofen-2, its most advanced Earth observation satellite.

Gaofen-2 can see a meter-long object from space in full color.

The zebra stripes of a pedestrian crossing in the Xizhimen area of downtown Beijing are clearly visible in one of the 15 photos published by the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense.

The photos sent by the satellite have been applied in areas including land use surveillance, mineral resource survey and disaster relief, according to the administration.

Gaofen-2 was launched on August 19. It is the second of seven satellites to be launched for China's indigenous high-definition observation project Gaofen before 2020.

Gaofen-1 was launched in April 2013.