China’s BeiDou satellite navigation system (BDS) secured a 12.7 billion yuan commitments for new projects amid efforts by Beijing to strengthen international co-operation to challenge the dominance of the US-backed Global Positioning System (GPS).
The commitments reached finalisation at the Third International BDS Applications Summit held in Hunan province this week. 9.4 billion yuan has been allocated to encourage the adoption of BeiDou by both industrial and consumer enterprises. Organisers of the event outlined 10 major application scenarios, covering sectors such as telecommunications and transport, natural resource management and pipeline monitoring.
Xiang Libin, vice chairman of China’s National Development and Reform Commission, said that the goal of Beijing was to partner with other countries for regional short message communication and international rescue operations through the BeiDou system.
The BeiDou system, in operation for 30 years, competes with the European Union’s Galileo system, Russia’s Glonass system, Japan’s Quasi-Zenith satellite system and the US GPS system, the statement said.
The US-developed GPS system, launched in 1978, was the first satellite navigation system and has been operating worldwide since 1994 with 31 active satellites. BeiDou, meanwhile, began its service in the Asia-Pacific region in 2012 and currently operates a network of 30 satellites, according to the Chinese government.
