China’s satellite navigation industry continues to expand, with the sector’s total output value reaching 629 billion yuan (about $91.9 billion) in 2025, up 9.24 percent year-on-year, according to a white paper released Monday.
The white paper, published by the China Global Navigation Satellite System and Positioning Services Association (GLAC), said that nearly 1.4 billion smartphones in China were equipped with the BeiDou positioning function by the end of 2025, accounting for about 98% of all mobile phones in the country.
It also states that more than 160 million wearable devices support BeiDou positioning services. In addition, more than 100 million passenger cars are equipped with in-vehicle devices using BeiDou services for navigation and positioning.
Beyond China, BeiDou services and related products have been exported to more than 140 countries and regions around the world, the white paper said.
According to the white paper, the domestic satellite navigation industry is evolving into a “BeiDou space-time industry” integrating mobile communications, indoor positioning and artificial intelligence to create an intelligent and seamless space-earth network.
“If the digital economy is a high-speed train, BeiDou constitutes the rails and the timetable,” said Zhang Huifeng, president of GLAC. He emphasized that BeiDou would no longer just tell people “where they are”, but also help answer questions “when, under what conditions and how to make smarter decisions”.
