China has finished 40 percent of the updates of its largest
national geographic information database and will complete the
entire project by 2010, said an official with the State Bureau of
Surveying and Mapping.
The database, completed in February, 2006, is a 1:50000 national
basic geographic information database that covers the whole country
with the largest scale and highest precision up to date.
Social and economic development, as well as geographic change
has led to changes in the database, said the unnamed official.
The bureau planned to finish another 14 percent of the project
in 2008, according to the official.
The 1:50000 database is the digital version of paper maps and
visual materials shot from a high altitude, said Lu Xinshe,
director-general with the bureau in 2006 when the database was
completed.
The 1:50000 topographic map is one of the most highly used maps
in economic development. "It will support the construction of a new
countryside, the development of west China and urbanization," Liu
said.
The images in the database, which cover all large and
medium-sized cities and developed areas, can be distinguished down
to one meter. "It means people who live in those areas can even
locate their apartment buildings in the database," said Lu.
According to Lu, the database will play a role in the
decision-making of the governments in land and regional planning,
resources surveying and evaluation, disaster prevention and
alleviation.
It will serve as a platform for the construction of e-government
and e-commerce and provide basic data for car navigation, mobile
positioning and intelligent transportation.
Environmental protection and the utilization of energy and
resources also require 1:50000 basic geographic data, he added.
(Xinhua News Agency January 11, 2008)