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Read in Chinese

Speaker:

Mr. Ran Chengqi, director general of the China Satellite Navigation Office and spokesperson of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System

Chairperson:

Ms. Shou Xiaoli, deputy director general of the Press Bureau of the State Council Information Office (SCIO) and spokesperson of the SCIO

Date:

Nov. 4, 2022

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Shou Xiaoli:

Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. Welcome to this press conference held by the State Council Information Office (SCIO). Today, the SCIO published a white paper titled "China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite System in the New Era," and organized this press conference to introduce and interpret its main content. The white paper fully implements Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, introduces China's policies to develop the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) in the new era, and reviews the progress in BDS construction and application. According to the white paper, China has carried out active international cooperation on BDS and advanced its international applications so that the system can better serve the world and benefit humanity. The white paper points out that China will work with all other countries to promote the development of navigation satellite systems and contribute to building a human community with a shared future.

At around 12,000 Chinese characters, the white paper consists of preamble, main body and conclusion. The main body is divided into six parts: "BeiDou in the New Era," "A World-Class Navigation Satellite System," "Improving BDS Operation Management," "Promoting Sustainable Development of the BDS Applications Industry," "Upgrading BDS Governance" and "Contributing to Building a Human Community with a Shared Future." The white paper is published in eight languages — Chinese, English, French, Russian, German, Spanish, Arabic and Japanese — by the People's Publishing House and the Foreign Languages Press. It is available at Xinhua Bookstore outlets across the country. To help you gain an accurate and deep understanding of the white paper, we have invited Mr. Ran Chengqi, director general of the China Satellite Navigation Office and spokesperson of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, to brief you on relevant information and then take your questions.

Now, I'll give the floor to Mr. Ran for his introduction.

Ran Chengqi:

Ladies and gentlemen, it's my pleasure to meet with friends from the media again. Thank you for your interest in and support for BDS. On July 31, 2020, General Secretary Xi Jinping announced to the world that BDS-3 was officially commissioned, marking the successful conclusion of the three-step BDS strategy and ushering in a new stage for the system's high-quality development.

As all Party members and all the Chinese people are earnestly studying the guiding principles of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), here we are issuing the white paper "China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite System in the New Era." The white paper reviews the development course of BDS and shows that in the new era, China has improved the BDS service capacity, achieved new progress in related industries, increased openness for relevant cooperation, and embarked on a new journey of BDS development.

First, China's BDS in the new era is a world-class navigation satellite system.

Based on its national conditions, China has independently developed BDS. We have independently developed core technologies, laid out an innovative system configuration, and offered quality and diverse services. Since BDS-3 was formally commissioned, the system has maintained uninterrupted, stable and reliable operation, and provided world-class services.

The 30 in-orbit satellites of BDS-3 have maintained a good operation status. Millions of their components in more than 300 categories, all produced by China, demonstrate excellent performance. The system's measurement positioning accuracy worldwide is better than five meters. Its accuracy is higher in the Asia-Pacific region and its service performance is better than all design indicators.

The system offers six high-quality specialized services: international search and rescue, global short message communication, regional short message communication, satellite-based augmentation, ground-based augmentation, and precise point positioning. We are now able to provide a wide range of services and are even leading the way in some areas.

China has achieved intelligent operation and maintenance for BDS, upgraded the software of in-orbit satellites, conducted global real-time monitoring and assessment of the system, and released the latest information. Since the system was commissioned, China has ensured its continuous and stable operation and improved its performance. We have embarked on a sustainable development path for BDS featuring high quality and efficiency, and low cost.

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Second, large-scale application of China's BDS in the new era has entered a fast track of development.

China has achieved sustainable development of the BDS applications industry. The country has formulated industrial development strategies and included BDS industrial development into its 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25). The system has been deeply integrated into infrastructure, empowered various industries and sectors, and served everyday life, delivering considerable economic and social benefits. In 2021, the total output of China's satellite navigation and location-based service industry reached 470 billion yuan, with a compound annual growth rate of over 20%.

China has forged secure and stable industrial and supply chains and reinforced the foundation of the BDS industry. We have built a complete industrial chain of chips, modules, antennas and boards, independently developed software and algorithms, and established a national product testing and certification system. Shipments of domestically manufactured chips exceeded 100 million, and foreign-manufactured chips of the same type are compatible with the system, thus ensuring the sound growth of the industry.

As BDS has been widely used in various industries and fields, its in-depth applications have grown. As of June, over 8 million BDS terminals had been installed on transport vehicles. Approximately more than 1.3 million terminals were used in the farming, forestry, livestock, and fishing industries and more than 1.8 million terminals adopted by public security organs. Large-scale BDS applications have been advanced in communication and timing services, meteorological monitoring, emergency response and disaster mitigation, and urban management. 

BDS has a wide range of applications in people's daily lives and they have easy access to its specialized services. BDS is becoming a standard configuration for mass-consumption products such as smartphones and wearable devices. In the first half of this year, among all types of smartphones that applied for network access in China, 128 supported the BDS-based positioning function. More than 130 million smartphones supporting BDS services were shipped, accounting for over 98% of the country's total. The BDS positioning service is used more than 100 billion times on average every day for map navigation on mobile phones. In particular, the public's mobile phones have been fitted with high-precision positioning services. Lane-level navigation has been implemented in eight cities, including Shenzhen, Chongqing, and Tianjin. The first mobile phone in the world that supports BDS-3 regional short message communication services has been officially released. Users can send short messages through BDS without changing SIM cards or phone numbers or using extra equipment.

Third, China's BDS in the new era contributes to building a global community of shared future

China has been committed to the principles of openness and integration and advancing the internationalization of BDS. It advocates the compatibility and interoperability of different satellite navigation systems, promotes the ratification of BDS by international standards, and expands its international applications to serve the world and benefit humanity.

Statements on signal interoperability with GPS and GLONASS have been signed and cooperative talks with Galileo system have been held. China has promoted the compatibility and interoperability of diverse systems under the framework of the United Nations. Doing so ensures a user-friendly BDS with the compatibility of various systems to jointly provide high-quality, diverse, secure and reliable services for global users.

Bilateral cooperation has been expanded and deepened. Cooperative mechanisms have been built with regional organizations and countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Over 50 outcome documents have been signed, including cooperation agreements on satellite navigation, memorandums of understanding, and cooperation roadmaps.

Multilateral cooperation has been strengthened. China-ASEAN, China-Arab States, and China-Africa BDS cooperation forums have been launched and the action plan for satellite navigation cooperation has been carried out. China has held the annual China Satellite Navigation Conference and Annual Conference of China GNSS and LBS every year and initiated the International Summit on BDS Applications. More than 100 overseas students from about 20 countries have obtained professional master's and doctorate degrees in China. More than 1,000 people from over 50 countries have participated in special training on satellite navigation.

China has been promoting BDS to be ratified by international civil aviation, maritime, mobile communications and search and rescue standards. BDS products have been applied in more than half of the countries and regions in the world. A greater variety of products have been exported and the application fields continue to be expanded.

In addition, this edition of the whitepaper has also drawn the blueprint for developing BDS by 2035 for the first time. China will develop a new generation of BDS with more advanced technology, powerful functions and better services. The goal is to create a more extensive, more integrated, and more intelligent comprehensive system that provides navigation, positioning and timing services, laying a solid foundation of spatiotemporal infrastructure for China's modernization.

Exploring the vast cosmos has been the dream of the Chinese nation for millennia. From observing Beidou (Chinese pinyin for the Big Dipper) to developing and using BDS, from gazing at the stars to utilizing space, BDS in the new era will continue to advance human progress in exploring the universe and make an even more significant contribution to achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and building a global community of shared future and a better world.

That's all for my introduction. Thank you.

Shou Xiaoli:

Thank you for your introduction, Mr. Ran. Let's move on to the question-and-answer session. Please identify the media outlet you represent before asking a question. 

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China News Service:

Mr. Ran, you published the first whitepaper on BDS six years ago. You have now published another whitepaper on BDS. How have things changed and progressed in the second white paper? Thank you.

Ran Chengqi:

Thank you. The first edition of the white paper was published on June 16, 2016. At that time, BDS-3 was in rapid development. Six years later, we published the white paper on BDS again at a time when BDS-3 had been completed and the three-step BDS strategy had been fully concluded. More importantly, the white paper on BDS in the new era aims to present the progress of BDS and China's achievements and vision in developing BDS. It also aims to share our ideas and experience. Both white papers were developed alongside national development in the new era and aim to serve national rejuvenation.

Today, we release this white paper to update to the public about the latest overall situation of the commissioned BDS. First, BDS-3, the configuration that covers the entire globe, has developed into a world-class navigation satellite system featuring innovative designs in constellation configuration, technical system, services and function. Its technical system, signal design, and service functions are the most advanced and powerful in the world. Second, BDS in the new era can provide a wide range of quality services and conduct real-time global monitoring on a regular basis. The promised positional accuracy of BDS is 10 meters. But we have managed to improve it to within 5 meters. In some areas, it could be 2 to 3 meters. The timing accuracy we promised is 20 nanoseconds, and now we achieved 10. Third, BDS in the new era is under ever-improving management. I mentioned just now that the top priority is to ensure an around-the-clock stable operation of BDS. Its system performance has been constantly improved during this process. Disclosing relevant information, we have also worked to ensure that BDS remains open to the whole world. Fourth, BDS in the new era has deeply integrated into the country's overall economic development and the world's economic domain, injecting strong momentum to growth and benefiting the world and humanity. 

Two of the most important parts in "China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite System in the New Era" highlight that BDS has entered a new era and its governance should be further modernized. We could interpret these two points from the following perspectives.

First, the three-step BDS strategy, particularly the complete construction of BDS, demonstrates the BeiDou Spirit of independent innovation, openness and inclusiveness, unity of purpose, and pursuit of excellence. It is a telling example of China's national spirit centered on patriotism and defined by reform and innovation in the new era. Independent innovation is the core competitive advantage. There would be no such top-class global navigation satellite system if we hadn't kept innovating on our own strength since the beginning of the endeavor. By embracing openness and inclusiveness, we have stayed true to our original aspiration of building a BDS for China and the world. Unity of purpose is the code to the success of BDS. It is an institutional advantage of socialism with Chinese characteristics to pool resources for major endeavors and forge ahead in unity. The constant pursuit of excellence is always on our agenda. We have worked hard to catch up and even harder to surpass and lead. That's how we turned BDS into one of the best navigation satellite systems in the world. 

Second, the vision for BDS is fully elaborated. We have built a new generation of BDS that is more advanced, powerful, and capable of providing much better services than before. Next, we will construct an integrated space-time system featuring a more ubiquitous network, deeper integration, and greater intelligence, which will help improve people's well-being and promote the development and progress of humanity. In simple terms, in spite of the fact that BDS is already quite good, we plan to develop a space-time system centering around it, which boasts unified standards, seamless coverage, ensured security and reliability, high efficiency, and great convenience and diversity. 

Third, we demonstrate to the public the modernized satellite navigation governance. We need to balance considerations and seek development. We will coordinate the domestic rule of law with foreign laws, accelerate the formulation of related regulations, participate in the global governance of satellite navigation, and ensure the standardized and sustainable development of BDS. 

Fourth, BDS specialized services are publicized. It can provide seven types of services, including positioning and six other distinctive services. It is worth mentioning that the system's high-accuracy service and short message communication service are dashing into our lives and displaying the application strength of BDS. I may offer you more information on it later. 

That's all I have to say. Thank you.

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China Daily:

I have two questions. Many map software operators have adopted BDS as their preferred positioning and navigation service option. Can you illustrate some other scenarios involving such high-accuracy applications in our daily life? Moreover, BDS officially launched a trial application for lane-level navigation recently. What do you think of its prospects? Thank you. 

Ran Chengqi:

Thanks for your question. Just now, I talked about the application of BeiDou's high-precision positioning services. BDS has already provided positioning accuracy at 5 meters and above. However, with economic and social development, the positioning accuracy of 5 meters can no longer meet the needs of users, as the demand for accuracy in socioeconomic development is getting higher and higher. For example, there is a higher demand for accuracy in self-driving technologies, ride-hailing services, deformation monitoring, mudslide monitoring, precision agriculture, and other fields. What shall we do? We have innovatively proposed to build a ground-based augmentation system and achieve higher accuracy through matching and integrating the system with BDS across the country.

Now a nationwide network of BDS ground-based augmentation has been built to provide real-time meter-level, decimeter-level, centimeter-level, and post-processing millimeter-level high-precision positioning services for industrial users and the general public. For ground-based augmentation service, its real-time positioning accuracy can reach 2 centimeters horizontally and 5 centimeters vertically. The post-processing accuracy can reach 2 millimeters horizontally and 5 millimeters vertically. Such high-precision positioning services will lead to more diverse applications and services. For example, we have expanded application scenarios to precision agriculture, deformation monitoring, autonomous driving, electric power inspection, smart ports, and bike sharing.

Let me give you a few examples. At present, this network has provided BDS accelerated positioning and BDS high-precision services for more than 1.5 billion users in more than 230 countries and regions, with services delivered 2 trillion times in total, equivalent to nearly 3 billion on average per day. At present, BDS has provided high-precision positioning services for more than 20 million mobile phones in the country. You also mentioned lane-level navigation just now. In this regard, we have applied high-precision services to people's daily driving and vehicle navigation in a pilot program. It has been carried out in eight cities in China, including Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Dongguan, Chengdu, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Suzhou, and Tianjin. Going forward, we will further expand the program nationwide.

At present, BDS also provides high-precision services for a total of 1.1 million shared bicycles in China and 200,000 electronic fences for shared bike parking in 12 cities across the country. Haphazard parking of shared bicycles, a problem plaguing the city, has been tackled by BDS high-precision services. I am also a user of shared bicycles. If the bicycle is not parked in the designated zone, the rider will not be able to lock the bike. Through this technical method, relevant departments can adjust guidelines for high-precision application scenarios.

At the same time, this network also provides high-precision positioning services for 21 models of smart cars in China, with a mileage of over 2.5 billion kilometers, and for a total of 50,000 industrial drones of domestic drone companies. All of this shows that BDS high-precision applications point to the future of China's satellite navigation industry and has a broad market. We also look forward to seeing more uses of BDS high-precision services in all walks of life. Thank you.

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CCTV:

Mr. Ran mentioned that since the official commissioning of BDS-3 in 2020, the work focus has shifted from BDS construction to BDS operation management. BDS has been operating stably during the past two years, so what results have been achieved? What deficiencies need to be improved? Thank you.

Ran Chengqi:

Thanks for your questions. On July 31, 2020, General Secretary Xi Jinping announced that BDS-3 was formally commissioned, and emphasized to us that the system must be easier to use and more stable in operation. All services are built on the premise that the system is more stable and reliable. If not, competing in the market and providing services to the general public would be difficult. Therefore, operational stability has been considered a top priority since BDS-3 was completed. We have pooled relevant technical resources and teams at home, and unswervingly pursued stable operation and performance improvement.

I have an example. The technical standards of BDS availability we designed in the first place was 99%, which meant that 1% of the accuracy was allowed to exceed standards. Satellite navigation systems all over the world are using 99% availability standards, and the time when 1% of the accuracy exceeds the standards is about 86.4 hours per year. We have increased the availability standards from 99% to 99.9% through various parties' technical and management measures. Although it is only a 0.9% increase, which seems like a small step, it is a real giant stride. Through these methods, we have decreased the time length of BDS accuracy that exceeds the standards from 86.4 hours to 8.64 hours. Of course, 100% availability is guaranteed in the actual work. From 99% to 99.9% and then to 100%, this is the overall performance of BDS. We have realized round-the-clock services and no time period affects the use of the system, and we have made the impossible possible thanks to the joint effort of many scientific researchers. We have also adopted a series of advanced and innovative means. For example, in BDS operation, we carry out early warning and prediction or real-time monitoring to predict the situation of the sensitive single-machine systems or components on the satellite, and to make judgments based on the data of satellite operation. We also have a slogan called "spot problems before users do, identify signs of problems before they appear, and solve problems before they cause any impact," so we ensure that proactive measures are rolled out to eliminate hidden problems, give early warnings, and release information to users in a timely manner. We have made it so that from the beginning of BDS construction to the present, the system ensures stable operation, and offers uninterrupted services. We will continue to uphold this standard in the future to ensure BDS's continuous and stable operation. Thank you.

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Hong Kong Economic Herald:

We have learned that in the future, in terms of internationalization, BDS will continue to go global, and provide more products and services for overseas markets under the Belt and Road Initiative. Can you give a detailed introduction to the achievements of international cooperation regarding BDS? What are the plans for the next step? Thank you.

Ran Chengqi:

BDS development has been designed in such a way to ensure integration of construction, application and international cooperation since the very beginning. We always prioritize BDS going global and providing services worldwide, and pursue openness and cooperation for its development. We have advanced international cooperation concerning BDS-1, BDS-2, and BDS-3. We fully participate in international satellite navigation affairs. There are several aspects.

First, we have participated in the activities of the United Nations' International Committee on Global Navigation Satellite Systems, or ICG. As an original member, China has made its contributions to the ICG in a timely fashion, which were highly appraised by the UN and the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA). China's BDS is a responsible system that leads the development of global satellite navigation systems. We have participated in previous satellite navigation work conferences and actively assumed responsibilities for BDS' part in relevant activities of UNOOSA. We have undertaken research on related topics, and participated in the forums of international organizations, in order to promote BDS to provide better services for all mankind. Among them is an organization for the application of satellite navigation systems for developing nations. China has also publicly advocated for it and offered help.

Second, we have actively conducted bilateral talks on cooperation. Above all, we have established specialized cooperation channels with major global navigation systems, such as the United States' Global Positioning System (GPS), Russia's GLONASS system, and Europe's Galileo system, and achieved sound progress. We have jointly promoted the application of global satellite navigation. We have signed the joint statements on compatibility and interoperability with the GPS system and the GLONASS system, and conducted frequency coordination with the Galileo system. In addition, we have conducted application cooperation with countries along the Belt & Road, including both bilateral cooperation and multilateral cooperation. For example, we have participated in and successfully held three sessions of China-Arab States BDS Cooperation Forum, two sessions of China-Central Asia BDS Cooperation Forum, and the First China-Africa BDS Cooperation Forum. We have jointly promoted the application of satellite navigation and BDS by issuing forum statements, action plans, and application scenarios. We have established close ties with countries in Central Asia and Africa, and regional organizations such as the League of Arab States and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and conducted in-depth cooperation in testing and evaluation, joint application, education and training, and technical cooperation. It's fair to say that the application of BDS has attracted massive attention and expectations from the world. A Chinese delegation recently attended the meeting of the International Committee on Global Navigation Satellite Systems, which was held in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, and has received proposals from many countries and organizations for enhanced cooperation with BDS. They praised BDS as a useful system. We are particularly delighted to promote systems, products, applications, and concepts from China to the world.

Third, we have vigorously participated in multilateral organizations, including both international organizations and standard organizations, and accelerated the application of BDS in the fields of civil aviation, maritime, mobile communication, and international search and rescue. China's BDS has passed all 189 satellite navigation standards listed by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). We will fully join ICAO and further promote the application of BDS in the field of international civil aviation under the framework of ICAO. Since BDS-1, we have promoted ratification of BDS by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). Therefore, most smartphones we use today are equipped with BDS. We joined the International Maritime Organization in 2014 and other international search and rescue organizations. In light of the special contributions of BDS short message communication service, we have put forward new suggestions to international search and rescue organizations. When people encounter dangers at sea, they can apply for help to the search and rescue organizations. But the previous international rescue signal was one-way, so it was unknown to the caller whether the distress signal was received by search and rescue organizations. BDS ingeniously developed two-way signals to notify the caller that the distress signal has gotten a response, which would be a tremendous mental support for the caller. That is a great contribution from BDS to the international search and rescue efforts. Those BDS applications have been widely recognized among the public. Additionally, after the application of many products and technologies, as part of our efforts to help people to better understand BDS, we have promoted exchange activities, inviting foreign students to come to China to learn and receive training about our technologies and products so as to make people have a better understanding of China's BDS and its applications. Thank you.

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Southern Daily:

With the BeiDou-3 global navigation satellite system now operational, what is the current operating status of its satellites? Are there any new plans for further satellite launches to expand the existing BeiDou navigation constellation? Thank you.

Ran Chengqi:

As of now, we have a total of 45 satellites in orbit to provide services, including the BeiDou-3 satellites in orbit and the original BeiDou-2 satellites, which have been in service for an extended period of time, so the system has been functioning very well. Even in such a case, we have to continue to ensure stable operation and make performance improvements to the system. Based on that, we will make efficient use of the satellites in orbit and coordinate with ground systems. At the same time, we will actively promote the construction of a backup satellite system to further ensure the reliability of the system. According to our schedule, we have arranged the production and development of a backup satellite system, including three to five satellites, to be launched next year. We will further strengthen the construction of the constellation to ensure the stable operation of the system. As a major country, China will deliver on our promise of providing world-class services to the rest of the world. 

On this basis, we will further develop the next-generation BDS. We haven't given it a name yet, but it will likely be Beidou-4. It should be better than Beidou-3, with enhanced system performance. At the same time, we need to further integrate it with emerging technologies, such as mobile communications, low earth orbit communications, traditional inertial navigation, and so on. The technologies should be deeply integrated. The next generation will be a more ubiquitous, more intelligent, and more integrated. You may feel the three "mores" are very broad and vague, but in fact, to put it simply, BDS is still the core, and we will incorporate all the emerging technologies related to space-time information into this system, developing it synchronously at a faster speed. Our projected goal is to fully build this space-time system by 2035. By then, we hope that Beidou, China's time-space system, will be everywhere, including underwater, on the ground, indoors, in the air, in deep space, or even in distant outer space. Simply put, Beidou will provide you with safe and reliable space-time technology anywhere anytime. This is our overall consideration for development. Thank you.

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Cover News:

Mr. Ran, you just introduced that the Beidou's goal is to build a more ubiquitous, integrated, and intelligent space-time system. Can you explain the specific meaning of this goal? What more needs to be done to achieve this goal? Thank you.

Ran Chengqi:

I have sort of answered this question just now. Everyone has paid great attention to Beidou-3. It is really good. Will there be anything better than it later on? Our answer is yes. For Beidou-3, we should ensure that the system itself continues to improve. How to develop it into the next generation of BDS? First of all, we should build the next-generation BDS, likely BeiDou-4, to be better. This system will make further breakthroughs. First, for the satellite constellation, we now have medium-orbit and high-orbit satellites. In the future, we will also consider including low-orbit constellations to build a navigation constellation for high, medium, and low orbits. In addition to providing reliable and better performance in positioning and navigation services, there's the high-precision positioning service as I mentioned earlier. Everyone feels it is great to use, but that service is only applicable inside China. Can we push this network to be used universally? This is our expectation for the future. We particularly hope to provide such a high-precision, highly reliable, and powerful space-time network through the integration of high, medium, and low-earth orbit constellations as well as the integration with mobile communications and low-earth orbit communications. We especially hope that after construction is completed, users all over the world can share the positioning accuracy of 5cm, 2cm, 5mm, and 2mm. We have made a great demonstration of its technology, and the scheme is sound. We are very confident about its construction pace.

We also hope to lead the development of the global satellite navigation system and even the space-time field after the construction of the next-generation space-time system so that it is more ubiquitous, more integrated, and more intelligent. Being ubiquitous means the integration of various technologies and methods, including seamless coverage, which aims to solve all the problems related to space. General Secretary Xi encouraged us to "explore the vast universe," and we will go further and go to deep space. We should rely on China itself for our space-time benchmark. Whether there is a space-time benchmark in the far space of the Milky Way Galaxy... we are also working hard on it. We believe that the next generation of space-time benchmarks can solve this problem. I want to say we are looking forward to a promising future. The year 2035 is our goal. We hope to do better on this basis to make Beidou's highly reliable and high-quality services available at any time. Of course, through such high-quality services, we will also promote the development of the economy, society, and industrial chain and make new contributions to national economic and social development. Thank you.

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Tianmu News:

You mentioned mass consumption and mass applications, and now we have no sense of security without mobile phones. Not long ago, the first mobile phone to support Beidou-3's short message communication service was launched. I would like you to elaborate further on it. How was this function realized? And will other mobile phones and smartphones also support this function in the future? Thank you.

Ran Chengqi:

Thank you for your question. I wanted to share this but never got a chance to do so. The application of BDS short message communication services to mobile phones is a dream we had as early as BDS-3 was proposed and approved. In addition to positioning and navigation services, BDS-3 also features a short message communication service. This function is amazing, but its application requires an expensive, exclusive terminal that must be independent of mobile phones and thus would bring a lot of inconveniences. At that time, we wondered if this function could be incorporated into mobile phones. This was a good concept, but we faced many technical problems. It takes 10 years to sharpen a sword, and it took us 10 years to work on this function. We achieved it thanks to China's progress in communications, our technological advances in the chip industry, and especially to the mobile operators and mobile phone producers. 

We first built a short messaging civil platform for BDS to deliver all the short message services. It is available to China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom users if combined with these mobile operators. However, it posed a great technical challenge to include these services in mobile phones. We often said it was one of our dreams to directly connect satellites with mobile phones. Today, we've achieved it. We made the terminal miniaturized and chip-based with low power consumption to realize the function. It was not our purpose to adopt another independent terminal. We wanted the function to be included in mobile phones. Thanks to our technological progress and joint efforts, we solved the issue by developing the BDS short message communication radio-frequency baseband integrated chip technology.

The function was finally included in modern mobile phones as a chip and perfectly integrated. Today's chip owes much to the efforts of mobile phone manufacturers, who did an excellent job dealing with the technical system, signal design and key problems. The current chip can be made into a mobile phone roughly at the cost of 10 yuan ($1.38) without changing the phone card and number or adding peripherals. There is no difference between a BDS-enabled mobile phone and other mobile phones. However, with this chip, we can send information through this mobile phone when there is no mobile signal. The advantage is that you can still send text messages, report your location, and provide your location track in that case. You may think that this function can hardly be felt in daily life. But ask yourself how you would feel if your mobile phone had no service, but was equipped with this function. I often say that you may never use the function, but you gain a sense of security. Nowadays, it has been widely applied to many mobile phones. You will have a sense of security if you can always connect with the outside or be seen online. The status is the security guarantee BDS provides.

In the future, we also plan to open the technology to domestic mobile phone manufacturers to provide better services. We hope more domestic mobile phone manufacturers and operators will participate. What we especially want to see is that BDS telecommunication services contribute much to our economy and society and provide a more reliable guarantee for public travel safety. We have realized the function. We can ensure that BDS-3 service covers people in the Asia-Pacific based on its capability. With a mobile phone in hand, one can travel over the Asia-Pacific and even the world. BDS has also set a precedent for direct satellite connection with mobile phones. The exploration is helpful. Some international mobile phone brands are also in pursuit of this function. From this point of view, applying BDS short message communication services to mobile phones is leading to progress in innovation. Thank you.

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The Poster News APP:

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, BDS has been used in more than half of the countries and regions in the world as a pacesetter of aerospace science and technology products for export and has become a well-known global brand. Could you give some examples of BDS applications overseas? Thank you.

Ran Chengqi:

Regarding the international application of BDS, we have promoted it as a priority when participating in activities of relevant UN organizations and maritime and mobile communication organizations as well as relevant bilateral activities. We remain committed to advancing BDS' international application, and our focus is countries along the Belt and Road. The BDS' global commitment and China's status as a responsible major country has made it imperative to better promote BDS internationally. In fact, we already promoted BDS internationally when BDS-2 was completed in 2012, and achieved remarkable results thanks to our continuous efforts. When the basic system of BDS-3 was completed in 2018, it provided services for countries along the Belt and Road first. To foster understanding of the system, we have organized multiple international training courses on its application, as just mentioned. I'd also like to provide several specific, more impressive application cases here. 

BDS has become accessible in more than half of the world's countries and regions. For example, in Saudi Arabia, it has been used for surveying, mapping and collecting geographic information, developing urban infrastructure, and positioning people and vehicles in deserts, among other important fields, winning widespread acclaim from local users. In Tajikistan, real-time, continuous monitoring of the Ozero Sarezskoye Dam was carried out based on BDS to detect deformation with millimeter-level accuracy, thus ensuring the dam's safety and the lives of local people. In Lebanon, BDS' high-accuracy technology was used for wharf construction surveying at the Beirut Port. The Burkina Faso government in Africa used BDS' high-accuracy technology to carry out surveying and mapping for hospital construction, thus finishing the surveying work within six days and shortening the construction time by half, significantly contributing to pandemic control. BDS has been successfully applied in ASEAN, South Asia, East Europe, West Asia and North Africa. It has provided good services to the China-Europe freight trains. China and Russia have also conducted stronger and closer cooperation in many navigation application fields under a framework agreement for strategic cooperation until 2025. BDS has also done a good job in serving relevant road transportation systems and cross-border transportation. Such cases are too numerous to list. I want to say that BDS products and technologies have been applied in more than half of the world's countries, and we will continue to promote its application systematically. I hope that our media friends can help publicize BDS so that the world can better understand it. Thanks.

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Beijing Office of Changjiang Daily:

China has seen bumper harvest this year. Could you share with us the application of BDS technology in agriculture? Thanks.

Ran Chengqi:

The application of BDS in agriculture has drawn much attention. The high-precision agricultural application of BDS will be significant since agriculture constitutes a vital area. During my visit and field trip to Xinjiang around five or six years ago, I saw the high-accuracy application of BDS. For example, I was told that when there were no high-precision products, the labor intensity of drivers was very high as they had to maintain precision while operating the harvesters and other agricultural machinery. After the broad application of the highly accurate BDS, the accuracy of the agricultural machinery can reach about two centimeters, greatly easing the drivers' labor intensity. A driver told me he didn't need to do anything in the machinery except turn the steering wheel in a corner. The vast land of Xinjiang means that farming machinery must drive long distances. Therefore, BDS could be applied well in fertilization, sowing, agrochemical spraying, harvesting and other agricultural activities. I was also told that thanks to high-precision BDS, the precision of seedling fertilization could reach around two centimeters. This seemingly small technological progress can bring about significant changes. For example, precise plowing, agrochemical spraying, and fertilization can significantly cut costs, improve efficiency, reduce labor intensity, and increase the returns of the farms.

The high accuracy of BDS has been applied in agriculture in several other cases. BDS has fully empowered agricultural production and become a vital scientific and technological force driving agricultural development. According to incomplete statistics, the number of automatic agricultural machinery based on BDS has exceeded 200,000 units (sets) this year, providing tangible services for farmers and improving agricultural ecological efficiency. During the past autumn, BDS-based self-driving tractors, seeders, harvesters and other agricultural machinery, and drones played a significant role in harvesting, plowing and sowing in Beijing, Hebei, Henan, Shandong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Heilongjiang, Gansu and other places. Many farmers plan the routes of the machinery through mobile phones and accurately stay on top of the farming work. BDS is now serving as a real "golden key to a good harvest" for farmers. I believe that BDS will continue to support China's precise agricultural development in the future. Thank you.

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CNR:

We know that BDS has become a new economic growth driver. Since BDS-3 was opened to global users more than two years ago, a host of BDS-related new industries have emerged. How important are these emerging industries to China's economic growth? Thank you.

Ran Chengqi:

This question is a bit difficult to answer. Why? We often say that BDS is ubiquitous at every time. Since time and space information is necessary for everything, there is a line in the BDS community that satellite navigation applications are only limited by human imagination. I remember saying at other press conferences that if you think about it, without spatiotemporal information, the information we obtain and our perception of the world will be inaccurate or even useless. Therefore, time and space are crucial to our economic and social development. With the transformation of the economy and society, the development of information technology, and the advancement of intelligence and automated technologies, spatiotemporal information, especially that of high precision, has become more prominent. You referred to emerging industries in your question, but I can't find a single sector without a BDS application. We are also looking forward to integrating with emerging technologies. We are delighted to say that BDS can be integrated into all walks of life and with all emerging technologies, including intelligent technologies, automated technologies, cloud computing and big data. We often say that BDS serves everyday life. In my view, be it in the traditional industries or emerging and future industries, BDS, now well applied in various sectors, can always play a role by providing spatiotemporal information.

We have conducted over 50 demonstration projects with relevant ministries and commissions in various provinces and cities. For example, in 2012, we worked with the Ministry of Transport. We carried out the BDS demonstration application on chartered tourist buses, regular buses at class III (serving between non-adjacent counties) or above, and vehicles carrying dangerous goods. We aimed to cover 79,000 vehicles at that time. By June this year, however, the number had exceeded 8 million. If BDS is applied to more vehicles, mobile phones and industries, it will surely become a system offering comprehensive services to diverse industries. For the better operation and development of BDS, I hope that all walks of life can pay more attention to spatiotemporal information and BDS applications. The development of BDS is integrated, which can spur new sectors and industries and drive overall socioeconomic development in China. Thank you.

Shou Xiaoli:

Thank you, Mr. Ran Chengqi. Thanks to the friends from the media for your participation. Today's briefing is at this moment concluded. Goodbye, everyone.

Translated and edited by Zhang Liying, Wang Wei, Li Huiru, Qin Qi, Huang Shan, Zhang Rui, Liu Qiang, Duan Yaying, Wang Yiming, Zhang Tingting, Yuan Fang, He Shan, Yan Bin, Ma Yujia, Xu Xiaoxuan, Yang Xi, Xu Kailin, Zhang Junmian, David Ball, Tom Arnsten, and Jay Birbeck. In case of any discrepancy between the English and Chinese texts, the Chinese version is deemed to prevail.