China's satellite navigation industry sees sound recovery in 2020

BEIJING - The total output value of China's satellite navigation and location services industry reached 403.3 billion yuan (about $62.75 billion) in 2020, up 16.9 percent from the previous year, according to an annual report.

The data was published in the White Paper on the Development of China's Satellite Navigation and Location Services Industry (2021), which was released by the GNSS (global navigation satellite system) & LBS (location-based service) Association of China on Tuesday.

The industry's core sectors, which are directly related to the development and application of satellite navigation technology, include chip, device, algorithm, software, navigation data, terminal equipment and infrastructure.

These sectors reported 129.5 billion yuan in output value, a year-on-year increase of 11 percent, accounting for 32.11 percent of the industry's total.

The related output value of satellite navigation applications and services increased by 19.9 percent year on year to 273.8 billion yuan, accounting for 67.89 percent of the total, according to the white paper.

In the first quarter of 2020, the industry growth slowed significantly compared to the same period in 2019 due to the COVID-19 epidemic. Thanks to the country's effective control of the epidemic, the industry steadily recovered with the resumption of economic activities.

The opening of the new BDS-3 system to global users has further stimulated the demand for the application of BDS satellite navigation technology in various industries, bringing the industry back to the development fast track.

There are 14,000 enterprises and institutions in the field of satellite navigation and location services in China, with more than 500,000 employees. By the end of 2020, 84 companies in the industry had been listed.