Preamble
The BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) is a project built and operated by China as a component of the country's national security and economic and social development strategy. After many years in development, it has become an important new element of China's infrastructure, providing high-accuracy, round-the-clock positioning, navigation and timing services to global users in all weathers.
From the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) held in 2012, BDS entered a new era of rapid development. On July 31, 2020, President Xi Jinping announced to the world that BDS-3 was officially commissioned – a sign that BDS began to provide global services. From the launch of reform and opening up in 1978 to the beginning of the new era, from BDS-1 to BDS-3, from two-satellite positioning to a configuration covering the entire globe, from serving the Asia-Pacific to serving the whole world, BDS has progressed together with China's development and advanced the process of national rejuvenation.
In the new era, BDS benefits not only the Chinese people but also the people of other countries. A first-class navigation satellite system developed by China and dedicated to the world, it has been applied worldwide, integrated with global infrastructure, and introduced into mass markets, empowering industries and profoundly changing people's lives and the way they work. It provides an essential spatiotemporal reference for economic and social development, contributing Chinese wisdom and strength to making navigation satellite systems better serve the world and benefit humanity.
In the new era, BDS demonstrates China's resolve and confidence in striving for greater strength and self-reliance in science and technology. It embodies the Chinese people's spirit and commitment to independence and self-reliance in overcoming difficulties through hard work, showcases the strength of China's socialist system in pooling resources on major projects, and epitomizes China's global vision and its sense of responsibility in helping others to achieve common development.
The Chinese government is publishing this white paper to present China's achievements and vision in developing BDS, and to share its ideas and experience.
