Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs

China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) is an outstanding achievement of China's satellite navigation and positioning industries and a technological innovation for the world recognized by the UN, a spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday, adding that China's technological innovation and industrial development never targets anyone.

The remarks were made by Mao Ning, the spokesperson, at a press briefing when asked to comment on a recently released white paper stating that China's satellite navigation and positioning industries, especially the BDS, have achieved rapid progress over recent years, and foreign media comments that the BDS challenges the global status of the US' GPS.

"China's technological innovation and industrial development never targets anyone, still less challenges anyone. BeiDou is developed by China as a global good for the world. We will continue working with other countries in the spirit of open cooperation and mutual benefit to provide more advanced tech innovations that will serve and benefit humanity," Mao said.

The 2025 White Paper on the Development of China's Satellite Navigation and Positioning Industries was released in Beijing on Sunday. In 2024, the total output value of China's satellite navigation and positioning services industry reached 575.8 billion yuan ($79.87 billion), up 7.39 percent year-on-year, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Sunday, citing data from the white paper. 

As of the end of 2024, approximately 288 million mobile phones in China were equipped with positioning capabilities enabled by the BDS, according to the report, adding that BDS products and services have been exported to more than 140 countries and regions. 

As a core supplier of global satellite navigation systems recognized by the UN, the BDS has been fully integrated into the standards of 11 international organizations, including civil aviation, maritime affairs and mobile communications.

More than 30 African countries, including Nigeria, Tunisia, Senegal, Cameroon and Djibouti, have established BeiDou Continuously Operating Reference Stations, providing high-precision positioning services for local water conservancy, transportation, agriculture and meteorological monitoring. In South America, the Chancay Port in Peru is the first smart port to apply the "5G+BeiDou high-precision positioning+AI" technology, said the report.

Global Times