South China's Guangdong Province is set to become the first region in the Chinese mainland to establish an advanced Global Positioning System (GPS), which will better serve the province's dynamic economic and social development.

Ten ground receiving stations and a central control headquarters are to be built in the first phase starting this coming June, with more than 30 million yuan (US$3.61 million) earmarked for the construction.

The entire GPS network is scheduled to be complete within the 10th-Five-Year-Plan period (2001-05), providing every city with a ground receiving station.

The GPS network, which will include geographical information systems and advanced remote satellite technologies, is to be utilized in agricultural, meteorological, communications, logistical, telecommunications and security applications in the prosperous province which borders Hong Kong and Macao.

The GPS network will help improve the standard of government decision-making and improve work efficiency, said Chen Jun, director of the State Basic Geographical Informational Center, yesterday.

Chen said the GPS network will have a marked impact on the forecasting and monitoring of floods, drought, storms and other natural disasters.

Guangdong is struck by typhoons many times during the summer season, resulting in many deaths and injures.

According to Liu Jinnan, a GPS expert, the GPS network will also help ease the province's heavy traffic problems when vehicles, particularly taxis, are equipped with GPS technologies.

GPS will also be used in mobile phones to further improve the telecommunication service, Liu added.

Liu predicted development and utilization of the GPS network would lead to many opportunities for both overseas and domestic investors.

Guangdong Province is seeking investment from home and abroad to help build the GPS network.

Liu said the GPS network industry has reached an industrial production value of around 1 billion yuan (US$120 million) in recent years and will have an output value of more than 10 billion yuan (US$1.2 billion) by 2005.

(China Daily April 9, 2003)