Tech base established for Beidou system

BEIJING - A base for promoting technological innovations for China's Beidou satellite navigation system has been established in Shanghai, according to a Wednesday statement from the system's management office.

The base is intended to help make major breakthroughs concerning positioning technology research, as well as increase the number of related Chinese patents and establish three to five Beidou-related enterprises, the statement said.

The navigation and positioning service industry has maintained an annual growth rate of 50 percent in recent years, becoming one of the fastest growing information industries, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Science and Technology.

However, inadequate technology has contained the development of the domestic industry, the statement said.

The base will be one of five bases established by the government to accelerate innovation concerning key technologies and products for the navigation and positioning service industry, it said.

The base will also drive the restructuring of the transportation, telecommunications and electronics manufacturing industries, the statement said.

China began to construct the Beidou system in 2000 with a goal of breaking its dependence on the US Global Positioning System by 2020.

The semi-finished system is scheduled to provide comprehensive services, including navigation, positioning, mapping and time services, to clients in the Asia-Pacific region by the end of this year.