People visit the first International Summit on BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) Applications, in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province, Sept. 16, 2021. The First International Summit on BDS Applications opened Thursday with the theme "BDS serves the world, application fuels the future." Photo:Xinhua

Chinese online mapping platform Amap revealed on Saturday that its daily usage of the domestically developed BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) to make positioning calls had exceeded 300 billion times as of January, and it vowed to expand the application of BDS in the transportation sector.

Amap and a spatial-intelligent infrastructure company Qianxun SI have jointly initiated an innovation plan for BeiDou's application in transportation. They aim to combine technical strength and market resources from all walks of life to explore and expand the industrial application of the BDS, according to a statement released by the Beijing Institute of Space Science and Technology Information on Saturday.

BeiDou's high-precision service has been deeply integrated into the transportation sector, showing the advantages of more stable positioning signals, higher positioning quality and faster positioning speed, read the statement.

It has outpaced Global Positioning System (GPS) and become the top guidance service provider for domestic mapping platforms. Based on the average number of satellites called by domestic navigation apps for each positioning, BeiDou satellites have been called the most, 30 percent more than the second-ranked GPS, the China Media Group reported.

BeiDou playing a dominant role in the domestic navigation sector is of great significance. For starters, as a homegrown technology, it is free from external meddling, and it could ensure data and information security. In addition, the positioning quality of BDS has proved in many scenarios to be much better than GPS, Liu Dingding, a Beijing-based veteran market analyst, told the Global Times.

The BDS has also been widely used in many industrial and agricultural sectors, from port management and grain production to providing disaster relief.

According to the Beijing Institute of Space Science and Technology Information, the BDS has been widely implemented in major domestic ports, including Dalian port in Northeast China's Liaoning Province, Qingdao port in East China's Shandong Province and Guangzhou port in South China's Guangdong Province. 

The market for BeiDou's smart port application has grown rapidly in recent years, becoming a scientific and technological force boosting ports' development and supporting the nation's economic growth, the institute said in a statement released on Friday.

Global Times