PBOC issues commemorative coins for navigation system

BEIJING -- China's central bank has issued a set of two commemorative coins marking the official launch of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, or BDS, last December.

The set includes one gold and one silver coin, both of which are fiat money of the People's Republic of China, according to the People's Bank of China.

The coins both feature a variety of decorative elements, including the national emblem, images of satellites and binary codes.

The PBOC will issue 30,000 gold coins with a face value of 150 yuan ($24.08) and 60,000 silver coins with a face value of 10 yuan.

The BDS was developed by the government in order to take a share of the GPS-dominated domestic navigation market. The first BDS satellite was launched in 2000.

The system went into official use on Dec 27, 2012 following a trial period that began in 2003.