The ambitious Beidou navigation satellite system is to be completed in three stages from 2000 to 2020. China already has launched three satellites into space between 2000 and 2003 for the experimental Beidou system.

By 2012, the system will be able to provide a positioning and navigation service covering China and its neighboring regions, the report said.

In the third stage, around 2020, the system will provide global service and include about 30 satellites.

The system was widely applied in the rescue and search efforts during the Wenchuan earthquake in 2008 and the Yushu earthquake this year.