China has made BeiDou satellite navigation reference station network data available to the public for the first time.
The move, announced at a meeting held by the Ministry of Natural Resources and National Data Administration in Beijing on Friday, opens BeiDou reference station data to key industries and market entities under the principle of secure and efficient management, allowing compliant circulation of public spatiotemporal data.
Satellite navigation reference stations are the ground-based infrastructure that enables BeiDou's high-precision positioning services. The national network has expanded to 7,569 stations, including 420 national-level, 3,293 provincial and 3,856 coordinated. It provides high-precision spatiotemporal support for a wide range of sectors, including land planning, ecological protection, forest and grassland monitoring, disaster warning, energy communication, engineering construction, and urban management, thereby significantly promoting the large-scale application of BeiDou.
This authorized operation marks the first of its kind in national spatiotemporal information infrastructure. By adhering to the principles of secure, controllable, and high-quality service, it transforms reference station network data from underutilized public resources into compliant, tradable data assets. This ushers in a new phase where BeiDou's high-precision spatiotemporal data is propelled by both public service and market-driven operations.
Zhang Bing, chief planner of the Ministry of Natural Resources, said the progression from building the national network to issuing management regulations and now launching authorized operations represented a leap from "building well" and "managing well" to "using well".
Zhang described the initiative as a critical point in the transformation and upgrading of China's surveying, mapping and geographic information sector and in advancing the market-based allocation of data elements nationwide.
He noted that the authorized operation provides a replicable model for public data resource management across other sectors, saying it would guide more data elements to flow freely and release value on a compliant and orderly track.
