China aims to make BeiDou system more international: ministry
Visitors look at a model of China's Beidou satellite navigation system on display during an exhibition in Beijing, China, 17 September 2016.
China is working to have its BeiDou navigation and positioning system included in the International Civil Aviation Organization and other international systems.
The effort aims to make BeiDou more international and support completion of the BeiDou global system network, according to Peng Siyi, who is in charge of the Ministry of Transport's comprehensive planning department.
The system has already been recognized by the International Maritime Organization and the International Satellite System for Search and Rescue, Peng said at a press conference Wednesday.
He said the system is now compatible with the Global Positioning System of the United States, and that users of either one of the systems could use the other without much extra cost.
Peng said he was optimistic that the BeiDou system would eventually be compatible with all other positioning systems, but it still had a long way to go to cover the entire globe.
China has sold over 50 million domestically manufactured chips connected to the BeiDou navigation and positioning system in the past five years.
The chips have been downsized to their smallest size at 28 nanometers, down from the previous 0.35 micrometers, and the cheapest are priced at only 6 yuan (0.9 U.S. dollars) each, said Ran Chengqi, a BeiDou spokesperson, at a press conference Wednesday.
He said the performances of the China-made chips were as good as or better than similar products made in other countries.
Ran said China could not manufacture a single chip connected to the BeiDou system five years ago, but now China-made chips have realized scale application in the country.
"High-accuracy OEM boards and receiver antenna made in China now account for 30 and 90 percent of the domestic market, respectively," Ran said.
