“The construction of the Beidou network should resolve the country’s security issues, including economic security and the security of society at large,” he said. “It’s obviously a combined military and civilian infrastructure.

“What purpose it will have for national defence or armament, that’s for the armament department or Defence Ministry to consider, but I think that its uses are many,” Ran told a news conference.

The successful deployment of Beidou means the increasingly potent Chinese armed forces will have an accurate, independent navigation system – vital technology for guiding the missiles, warships and attack aircraft that allow Beijing to claim power.

Senior Chinese military officers have said that Beidou is more important for the country than manned space flight or the Chinese lunar probes now under way, according to reports in the state-run media.

But the benefits are by no means limited to defence.

The government sees it as a commercial coup for fast-growing market satellite navigation services for cars, mobile phones and other applications.

China is encouraging other countries in Asia to adopt it by offering the service free, as the United States does with the civilian GPS network.

Stations are being built in Pakistan to improve service there and Thailand has signed up to use Beidou for disaster forecasting.

“It’s completely open -- technology and service both," Ran said.

“Even though we still do not provide global coverage, its applications are already spreading worldwide,” he said.

This month, the cabinet approved a blueprint that envisioned Beidou capturing 60 per cent of a projected 400 billion yuan market for satellite navigation services in China, according to the .

The newspaper said 40 per cent of Beidou’s satellite applications would be for military use.