The time of China's satellites, including the Tiangong-1, a module of the country's planned space station, will be adjusted by ground-control centers to pull them into sync, said Dong.

"The launch of Shenzhou-9 spacecraft that is scheduled between June and August to dock with the 8.5-ton orbiting Tiangong-1 module will also be unaffected as long as the launch would not be set on the leap second," he said.

After that, China will launch Shenzhou-10 spacecraft next year to send two or three astronauts into the module, the China Aerospace and Technology Corporation has said.

Some countries, including the United States and France, have been pushing to abolish the leap second because it might cause problems, especially for navigation systems. They say machines shouldn't any longer be tethered to the imprecise cycle of sunrise and sunset.

But critics warn that scrapping the leap second would break the last link between the passing of time and the course of the sun across the sky.

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