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| Beidou Logo |
Beidou system eventually will provide coverage for the whole world.
China wants more companies from the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) to participate in the research and development of
applications for the country's indigenous Beidou Navigation Satellite
System, a move that could not only improve information infrastructure in
the populous region but also increase the system's international
competitiveness, experts said at an industry forum held Thursday.
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| Ground Track of Satellite Beidou |
"Beidou
is relatively new compared to the Global Positioning System (GPS), so
we want to take the opportunity of the China-ASEAN EXPO to promote the
system to ASEAN members," Ran Chengqi, director of China Satellite
Navigation Office, told reporters at an international cooperation forum
held in Nanning, capital of South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous
Region.
Currently there are four global satellite navigation
systems - the US-developed GPS, also the most widely used navigation
system, China's Beidou, the EU's Galileo and Russia's Glonass.
Ran said the Beidou system has technology advantages in ASEAN, as most ASEAN countries are geographically close to the equator.
Some domestic companies have already penetrated the ASEAN market.
"We
launched some automotive navigation devices in Thailand last year, and
plan to expand the business to Indonesia and Malaysia," Gu Zhengxi,
deputy general manager of Beijing-based CenNavi Technologies Co, said at
the forum.
The Beidou system also has opportunities in ASEAN's
public services fields such as weather forecasting, disaster relief and
public security, as many ASEAN countries are vulnerable to natural
disasters, experts said at the forum.
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| Another Beidou Satelite Launching |
"We are still testing the
signal of the Beidou system, and the quality is good," Chinorost
Booncherm, a director with a space technology agency under Thailand's
Ministry of Science and Technology, told reporters at the forum
Thursday.
Booncherm said they will hold an industry meeting by
the end of this year and invite Chinese experts to promote the Beidou
system to private companies in Thailand.
Two scientific research
institutions in Wuhan signed a deal in March with Thailand's Ministry of
Science and Technology, agreeing to build a disaster forecast system.
On
Tuesday, the Chinese Academy of Sciences signed a demonstration project
with Laos to use the Beidou satellite system for forestation and
farming.
Ran noted that Beidou's satellite navigation services
will have worldwide coverage by 2020, but experts played down the
potential threat of Beidou to its foreign counterparts.
"The
relationship of the four global satellite systems is more like
co-existence, as the integration of multi-navigation systems is a trend,
which could offer users more accurate positioning services," Song
Weilin, an engineer at China Satellite Navigation Office, told the
Global Times Thursday.
"The major problem is how to reduce costs for multi-navigation systems," she noted.
Promoting
the Beidou system in ASEAN is also in accordance with China's efforts
to strengthen bilateral cooperation in areas of transportation and
telecommunications, according to Li Yao, chairman of China-ASEAN
Investment Cooperation Fund.
"However, industries related to the
Beidou system are still in the infancy stage, and mass commercialization
of such industries will take a long time," Li told the Global Times on
Thursday.
"We've drafted a development plan for industries
related to the Beidou system with the National Development and Reform
Commission, which are expected to be released soon and will help boost
the development of related industries," Song said.
According to
Ran's previous estimates, Beidou will account for 70-80 percent of
China's satellite navigation service market by 2020, which means it will
have a market value of 350-400 billion yuan ($57-65 billion) by then.
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