China and Russia will soon put in place an agreement involving their respective satellite navigation systems, with aims to promote the compatibility and interoperability of the BeiDou and GLONASS navigation systems.

The cooperation agreement has been confirmed by both sides during the sixth meeting of the committee of the Russia-China Project Committee on Important Strategic Cooperation in Satellite Navigation (RCPCISCSN) over the weekend. And it will take effect soon.

The meeting deliberates work reports from four work groups involving compatibility and interoperability, satellite based augmentation systems, the building of stations, supervision and assessment, as well as combined application. Major development on these areas has been achieved.

The two sides signed an inspection certificate regarding the location of measuring stations and approved a feasibility study report on agricultural projects.

China and Russia have agreed on the text of the cooperation agreement on the timing compatibility of BeiDou and GLONASS during the meeting. Multi-mode, multi-frequency radio frequency chips that support both BeiDou and GLONASS were also released during the meeting, with the two sides jointly analyzing the business prospects of more chip application and cooperation researches.

To follow up, China and Russia will stay in close communication on development plans and the project implementation of both systems. They will also actively explore new cooperative areas and projects to promote result sharing and cooperation for mutual benefit between BeiDou and GLONASS.

The meeting marked a major step in satellite navigation cooperation between China and Russia, which some industry insiders said has far-reaching implications for the US' GPS navigation system.

In 2015, China and Russia set up the committee of RCPCISCSN to establish a government-level mechanism and platform for deeper synergies between their respective navigation systems.