Guests from around 30 countries and global bodies attend Beidou summit in Hunan

The 4th International Summit on Beidou System Applications opened in Zhuzhou, Hunan province, on Wednesday, attracting delegations from nearly 30 nations and international organizations.

Co-hosted by the National Development and Reform Commission, Cyberspace Administration of China, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Ministry of Transport and the Provincial People's Government of Hunan, the two-day event features a large number of attendees from home and abroad, including representatives from 24 countries like Madagascar, Pakistan, Brazil and Laos, five international organizations such as the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, as well as 32 central government departments in China, organizers said.

Many local governments, research institutes, and State-owned and private enterprises have sent representatives to take part in the summit.

As China's most influential international event on Beidou, the summit consists of keynote speeches, themed forums, academic exchange sessions, and an exhibition.

Beidou-related technologies and products are among the highlights at the event, including satellite navigation chips, terminal equipment, communication services, and unmanned systems.

Beidou is one of China's largest civilian satellite systems and one of four global navigation networks, along with the United States' GPS, Russia's GLONASS, and the European Union's Galileo.

Since 2000, a total of 64 Beidou satellites, including the first four experimental ones, have been lifted on 47 Long March 3 series rockets from Xichang.

In July 2020, the system was declared complete and began providing full-scale global services.

Currently, there are more than 50 Beidou satellites in active service, operating in multiple types of orbits.