China expands use of BeiDou navigation system in transportation

BEIJING - China will expand the application of its home-grown BeiDou navigation system to cover all transportation fields, according to an official from the Ministry of Transport (MOT).

Over the past few years, over 6.17 million domestic vehicles nationwide and 35,000 vehicles of postal services or courier companies have installed or become compatible with the BeiDou navigation system, according to MOT spokesperson Wu Chungeng.

The navigation system has also been installed in 80,000 buses, 370 ships and the country's domestically-manufactured commercial airplanes.

The country is also promoting the international use of the BeiDou system in sectors such as transportation and rescue, and ensuring it serves Belt and Road countries.

The BeiDou system began providing services in China in 2000 and surrounding regions in the Asia-Pacific in 2012. When the system is completed in 2020, it will be the fourth largest global satellite navigation system after the US GPS system, Russia's GLONASS and the European Union's Galileo.

A basic system with 18 orbiting BeiDou-3 satellites is expected to be in place by the end of 2018.