Xinhua recently reported on the new developments related to the Chinese global positioning system named Beidou. Based on the comments made by scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the accuracy of the Beidou system’s 10-meter services has already reached the same level as the U.S. GPS system. With the enhancements that are planned, the Beidou system will soon offer better accuracy than the GPS system. It is also expected that the price of the Beidou commercial chip will drop sharply in the near future. As of October 25, the Beidou system included a network of sixteen satellites, which cover all of China and the surrounding regions. The era of commercialized Beidou applications has arrived. The domestic market size of the satellite positioning system is expected to reach RMB 200 billion yuan.
Source: Xinhua, November 18, 2012
http://news.xinhuanet.com/mil/2012-11/18/c_123966005.htm