The BeiDou navigation system provides the People’s Liberation Army of China with capabilities for guidance and positioning while operating as a global public service.
BeiDou has supported the growth of a satellite navigation and location-services industry that includes about 14,000 domestic entities and more than 500,000 employees.
The BeiDou Navigation Satellite System involves more than 400 organizations and over 300,000 technical staff in its development and construction.
In 2024, China's BeiDou industry recorded a total output value of 575.8 billion yuan, or about 82 billion U.S. dollars, representing 7.39 percent year-on-year growth.
SECM contributed to the BeiDou 3rd-generation satellite program by building 16 satellites.
The BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) provides global positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) services, and has transitioned to a strategic global utility.
China is leveraging its BeiDou satellite navigation system to strengthen ties in the Middle East through the China–Arab States BeiDou Cooperation Forum.
China Mobile is collaborating with China Satellite Network Group to provide Beidou messaging services, which support over 490,000 users and connect 16 million terminals.
During major flooding in Beijing earlier this year, China Mobile provided free Beidou-based distress messaging in areas lacking conventional coverage.
The value of China's Beidou industry reached 575.8 billion yuan ($80.74 billion) in 2024, reflecting a year-on-year increase of 7.39 percent.
The group has initiated pilot projects in Hebei, Chongqing, and Hunan provinces to demonstrate commercial Beidou short message services and expand public applications.
The company plans to expand Beidou's footprint internationally through Belt and Road partnerships while developing pilot programs and exploring global markets.
Beidou navigation is being used in industries and consumer products, including unmanned vessels, industrial robots, mountaineering suits, and shared bicycles.
The China Time and Space Information Group has consolidated business resources to advance Beidou short messaging and high-precision positioning infrastructure.
Zhuzhou became the first Chinese city to deploy 5,000 shared electric bikes equipped with Beidou devices, increasing positioning accuracy from under 10 meters to 30 centimeters.
China Time and Space Information Group aims to further promote Beidou's industrial applications across sectors such as energy, logistics, emergency response, and smart city management.
GEO-MEASURE delivers centimeter-level RTK accuracy across GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, and BeiDou constellations.
China's Shijian 21 satellite has successfully docked with and towed an old Beidou navigation satellite to a graveyard orbit.
Messages sent through China Mobile's BeiDou network are limited to twenty characters, or eighteen if location data is included, with an accuracy of about ten meters.
Huawei has produced more than forty million devices capable of connecting to the BeiDou network across sixty products.