South China's
Guangdong
Province is set to become the first region in the Chinese
mainland to establish an advanced Global Positioning System (GPS),
which will better serve the province's dynamic economic and social
development.
Ten ground receiving stations and a central control headquarters
are to be built in the first phase starting this coming June, with
more than 30 million yuan (US$3.61 million) earmarked for the
construction.
The entire GPS network is scheduled to be complete within the
10th-Five-Year-Plan period (2001-05), providing every city with a
ground receiving station.
The GPS network, which will include geographical information
systems and advanced remote satellite technologies, is to be
utilized in agricultural, meteorological, communications,
logistical, telecommunications and security applications in the
prosperous province which borders Hong Kong and Macao.
The GPS network will help improve the standard of government
decision-making and improve work efficiency, said Chen Jun,
director of the State Basic Geographical Informational Center,
yesterday.
Chen said the GPS network will have a marked impact on the
forecasting and monitoring of floods, drought, storms and other
natural disasters.
Guangdong is struck by typhoons many times during the summer
season, resulting in many deaths and injures.
According to Liu Jinnan, a GPS expert, the GPS network will also
help ease the province's heavy traffic problems when vehicles,
particularly taxis, are equipped with GPS technologies.
GPS will also be used in mobile phones to further improve the
telecommunication service, Liu added.
Liu predicted development and utilization of the GPS network would
lead to many opportunities for both overseas and domestic
investors.
Guangdong Province is seeking investment from home and abroad to
help build the GPS network.
Liu said the GPS network industry has reached an industrial
production value of around 1 billion yuan (US$120 million) in
recent years and will have an output value of more than 10 billion
yuan (US$1.2 billion) by 2005.
(China Daily April 9, 2003)