BeiDou Navigation Satellite System applications on display at an expo Photo: China News Service

Most smartphones are now in cooperation with Beidou, China's satellite navigation system and answer to the GPS system from the US, apart from Apple, Beidou said. 

According to Ran Chengqi, spokesperson for Beidou, the company doesn't need to talk to Apple, as the Beidou navigation system has a set of standards that is available for Apple to adopt.

Apple told Global Times on Thursday “iPhone 11 models use Beidou as part of its location data system.”

Apple's official Chinese website shows the iPhone 11 only displays built-in GPS and GLONASS systems. By contrast, Huawei's P40 separately lists all four systems.

Samsung, OPPO, Xiaomi and other mobile phone brands also support BDS.

"If they don't use the Beidou system, sooner or later they will come around," Ran said. "Beidou is a better system. They will of course opt for the superior one."

Other smartphone brands in China, including Huawei, Meizu and Xiaomi, use Beidou in their location and navigation systems in most of their models, according to media reports. 

The BeiDou Navigation Satellite System — or BDS — is China's largest space-based system and one of four global navigation networks, alongside the US' GPS, Russia's GLONASS and the European Union's Galileo. 

It provides global users with basic navigation, global short message communication, and international search and rescue services. Currently the system's services have covered more than 200 countries and regions, with more than 100 million users and 200 million daily services.

Global Times