Photo: BDS WeChat account

China and Arab States will jointly implement at least five pilot projects based on China's domestically developed BeiDou, or BDS (GNSS) technology, in key application domains from 2022 to 2023, according to a latest action plan signed by both sides at the Third China-Arab States BDS Cooperation Forum on Wednesday. 

There will be one or two China-Arab States BDS/GNSS Centers in interested states for the period, following the first that was inaugurated in Tunisia in April 2008, serving as an open platform for cooperation in the field, according to the cooperation plan for 2022-2023.

China will provide scholarships for up to five navigation and communication major students from Arab States for their master's degrees in the field and both sides will also exchange academic visitors annually, the plan says.

Cooperation between China and Arab States in navigation satellites will also include a continued joint assessment and release of results on BDS performance .

Third China-Arab States BDS Cooperation Forum was successfully held in Beijing on Wednesday.

Officials from the China Satellite Navigation Office, Arab Information and Communication Technology Organization, and representatives from government agencies, enterprises and colleges of 17 Arab countries, including Algeria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, attended the Wednesday event online and in person.

Industry insiders hailed the event as the first of its kind since the official launch of the BDS-3 global system in July 2020, saying that it will inject new impetus to the China-Arab States cooperation in this field to deepen the strategic relations between the two sides and boost the construction of a community of shared future. 

BDS has been applied in multiple industries in Arab States in recent years. Press releases of Wednesday's event show that in recent years, the BDS based solutions have served many industrial fields in Arab countries and brought better economic and social benefits. 

The BDS has established CORS systems in Tunisia, Algeria and other places to provide users with real-time, continuous and stable accurate GNSS positioning data and time.

In Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Lebanon, Oman, Morocco and other countries, BDS/GNSS high precision Services have been used in land surveying and mapping, transportation, precision agriculture, environmental monitoring, security and other fields.

In the construction of UAE railways, relevant units have combined BDS and Internet of Things technologies and applied them to supervision of construction equipment, materials and personnel. The data and information management of site safety and production has improved the efficiency of railway engineering management.