China has completed the formation of its own satellite navigation system Beidou, which became fourth after the us GPS, Russian GLONASS and European GALILEO.
Plans to create a Beidou appeared in the late 90s, and by 2000 was to implement the first stage of its formation, which recently culminated in the launching into orbit the latest navigational satellite. In the next 15 years, Beidou will have another major update.
The system has global coverage. According to the Nikkei, at the end of last year, about 70 percent of Chinese smartphones has already supported Beidou, plus more than 100 partners lined up to use its mapping technologies.
In 2013, the Ministry of transport of China said that vehicles for the transportation of “dangerous objects”, passenger buses and trucks heavy vehicles already using Beidou.
With the introduction of the navigation system China will no longer depend on American GPS in case of a serious conflict with the United States.
Source — CNBC