China's satellite navigation system to start oversea operation

China's homegrown Beidou Navigation Satellite System will be put into its first oversea operation in Thailand early next year.

The announcement was made in Bangkok on Wednesday by China's Wuhan Information Technology Outsourcing Service and Research Centre and the Geo-informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA) under Thailand's Ministry of Science and Technology.

An agreement with an expected value of 319 million U.S. dollars inked by the two countries in March has established their commitment to cooperation on the construction of Thailand's geospatial system, giving the country access to China's advanced technology, products and services. The two sides have agreed to start building a model satellite station based on Beidou in an industrial estate in Thailand's eastern Chon Buri province next month and nationwide construction will begin early next year, said Liu Junyi, deputy director of the Wuhan Information Technology Outsourcing Service and Research Centre.

It will be the first time that the Beidou lands outside China, said Liu, adding that China will draw experience in its cooperation with Thailand and further explore foreign markets. " The Beidou will be able to provide global service by 2015," he said.

Anond Snidvongs, executive director of GISTDA, said the Thai government will list the construction of a disaster forecasting system based on the Beidou into its overall economic development plan. The Beidou will be used in many sectors such as agricultural disaster warning, transportation, power distribution and environment, he said.