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Belt and Road Initiative
EconomyChina Economy

China’s BeiDou leads GPS, other rivals across belt and road network: report

Products and services compatible with China’s navigation system have captured 58 per cent market share in countries in the trade initiative

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Volunteers and farmers operate BeiDou-enabled rice transplanters to plant seedlings in Dazhou, Sichuan province, last month. Photo: Xinhua
Carol Yangin Beijing
Products and applications compatible with BeiDou, China’s home-grown navigation system, have captured 58 per cent of the positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) market in countries that have signed up to the Belt and Road Initiative, according to an industry white paper released on Monday, as Beijing leverages the trillion-yuan sector to expand its technological footprint.

There were now more than 20 BeiDou-related service centres in countries taking part in the initiative – China’s infrastructure-focused strategy for global trade integration – and products and services related to the system had reached over 140 countries and regions by the end of last year, said the Global Navigation Satellite System and Location Based Services Association of China, a semi-official industry body.

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The annual white paper, whose scope was expanded from standard satellite navigation to a comprehensive PNT system this year, found that Chinese PNT products and services had generated 1.33 trillion yuan (US$195.6 billion) in total output value by last year.

The foundational satellite navigation sector accounted for 629 billion yuan of that, up 9.24 per cent year on year, the white paper said.

The industry association defines the wider PNT sector as a comprehensive ecosystem centred on BeiDou, blending diverse technologies ranging from remote sensing and 5G telecommunications to indoor positioning, as well as inertial, visual and geomagnetic navigation.

BeiDou has established a dominant position in the Chinese market and is deeply integrated in domestic infrastructure. Beijing is now pushing for wider international adoption to offer an alternative to Western-led systems like America’s GPS and the European Union’s Galileo.
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