The system is working well at Nyingchi airport in the Tibet autonomous region, which sits in a narrow valley between towering mountains. Without the navigation system, it's unlikely that planes would be able to land safely, according to a report by China Economic Weekly.

In May 2008, a devastating earthquake hit Wenchuan, Sichuan province, severing communication with the outside world. Rescue teams carried handheld navigation system terminals capable of sending or receiving 120 Chinese characters to communicate with the rescue headquarters.

Help with mobile users:

According to statistics from the Ministry of Science and Technology, China's mobile users increased by 70 percent in 2009 and by 100 percent in 2010. A 30 to 40 percent yearly increase is expected over the next five years, which means the output of industries related to navigation services will reach 225 billion yuan ($36 billion) by 2015 and 400 billion yuan by 2020.

The transport ministry requires that 80 percent of all coaches, tourist buses and dangerous goods vehicles in nine provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities install the Beidou navigation system by the end of March, Xinhua News Agency reported on Jan 14.

The Beijing city government is planning to co-sponsor a public platform for Beidou navigation system, together with local navigation service company UniStrong.

The public platform costs 300 million yuan and will begin serving the city's transportation and logistic system in June.

One example is a locating system that can be installed on bicycles or carried by elderly people or children.

Users can set a range of activities on the locator, and an alarm will be triggered if the object it's monitoring goes offline.

- Cheng Yingqi

(China Daily 02/20/2013 page1)