From today’s news (emphasis in the last paragraph is mine):

BEIJING, Dec. 6 (AP) – (Kyodo)—China successfully launched a hybrid rocket Friday for the first time, Xinhua News Agency reported.The rocket, “Beihang-2,” was launched from a launch site in northwestern Gansu Province and reached an altitude of 3,000 meters before its head was parachuted to the ground 1.2 kilometers south of the site 15 minutes later, Xinhua said.

The launch was mainly intended to test the performance of the rocket’s hybrid engine, designed by the School of Astronautics of Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics. A hybrid rocket is known to cost less in launch as it does not explode.

As I recall, it took our rocket scientists a while to develop cheaper, non-exploding boosters, too.