China's military test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile Wednesday morning, according to defense officials, marking its first public test of the weapon in decades.

China says it successfully fired an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean on Wednesday, a rare public test that analysts said was meant to send a message to the United States and its allies amid heightened regional tensions.

China launched an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean in what appeared to be its first such public test in some four decades, a move likely to rattle the US as it seeks to sway world leaders at a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly.