China Satellite Navigation Office (CSNO) on Thursday released major plans for the next stage of BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), featuring cutting-edge technologies and enhanced services. The plan includes the launch of three pilot test satellites around 2027 and the completion of the system by 2035.

The BDS Development Plan for 2035 was announced on Thursday at a symposium in Beijing to mark the 30th anniversary of the BeiDou project. More than 100 participants attended the event, including representatives from national authorities, as well as key personnel from the project's engineering leadership and design teams.

The new plan outlines the future of China's satellite navigation network. "Building on the stable operation of the BDS-3, China aims to establish a next-generation BDS that is more advanced, robust, and user-focused," the Global Times learned from the event. 

The timeline specifies that breakthroughs in key technologies are expected by 2025. By 2027, three pilot satellites will be launched to test new technologies, and by 2029, the deployment of the system's network satellites will begin. The full completion of the next-generation BDS is expected by 2035, according to the plan.

The new system will feature characteristics like accuracy, flexibility, intelligence, and adaptability, offering global users real-time, high-precision, and highly reliable navigation, positioning, and timing services across Earth and near-Earth spaces, with accuracy ranging from meter-level to decimeter-level.

The system will cater to a variety of user terminals spanning from Earth's surface to deep space, and seamlessly integrate with other non-satellite-based navigation and timing technologies. 

The CSNO noted that the next-generation BDS will optimize the constellation architecture, forming a hybrid configuration of high-, medium- and low-orbit to enhance the accuracy of time-space benchmarks and the system's autonomous operation capabilities.

An integrated and efficient ground system will also be established to ensure resource flexibility, data sharing, and continuous operations, according to the office.      

"Currently, we have initiated a series of research projects focusing on key technologies, particularly emerging technologies such as low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites," Xie Jun, a deputy chief designer of the BDS project and researcher at the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, told the Global Times on Wednesday. 

He explained that the BDS has innovatively adopted a combination of medium Earth orbit (MEO) and high Earth orbit (HEO) satellites. In the next-generation system, LEO satellites will be integrated into the constellation, with the current MEO and HEO configuration of BDS serving as the core. 

The LEO satellites can offer faster positioning speeds and better accuracy from the 10-meter to the 1-meter level, or even decimeter- and centimeter-level precision. "At that point, users will clearly notice that even in environments with interference or obstructions, the BDS will maintain high reliability, with excellent accuracy in positioning and timing," Xie noted.

As a core global supplier recognized by the United Nations, China has continued to expand its international "circle of friends" by signing BDS cooperation agreements with countries such as Russia, Pakistan, Belarus and Arab nations, the Global Times learned at the event. 

BDS products are now exported to more than 140 countries and regions, and the system has been integrated into the standards of 13 international organizations, including those for civil aviation, maritime, and mobile communications. This makes it a striking example of China's efforts to promote the construction of a global community of shared future.

As one of the four major global satellite navigation service providers, China's BDS stands out for its extensive range of services. "Most other satellite navigation systems primarily focus on positioning, navigation, and timing. In addition to providing high-precision timing services, BDS offers satellite-based augmentation and its unique feature - short message communication services. In regional services, our large-capacity short message communication can now transmit messages containing up to 1,000 Chinese characters," Xie told the Global Times.

He added that BDS currently ranks among the top satellite navigation systems in terms of positioning accuracy. Regular evaluations by global monitoring stations show that BDS' navigation precision is among the best. "In terms of safety and reliability, the BDS system is comparable to the US GPS. Overall, I believe that BDS' comprehensive performance is leading the field," Xie concluded. 

Currently, BDS applications are rapidly expanding across key sectors of China's national economy, with coverage rates surpassing 90 percent in areas such as transportation, energy, natural resources and emergency response, said Xiang Libin, a deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission and academician with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, at the third International Summit on BDS Applications late October. 

Industry insiders hailed the vast potential of BDS application as being "limited only by human imagination," while anticipating its future integration with other advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence.

The motion fabricated by a handful of British MPs deliberately distorts United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758, tramples on international law, and blatantly challenges the post-war international order and universally recognized norms of international relations, and China firmly opposes and strongly condemns this motion, the spokesperson of Chinese Embassy in the UK said in a statement on Friday after some backbenchers of the UK House of Commons concocted a non-legally binding Taiwan-related motion on Thursday.

The spokesperson noted that Taiwan has been an inalienable part of China's territory since ancient times. This is a basic fact recognized by the world. In 1971, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 2758 with an overwhelming majority, deciding to restore all the rights of the People's Republic of China at the UN, to recognize the representatives of the Government of the People's Republic of China as the only legitimate representatives of China to the UN, and to expel forthwith the representatives of the Taiwan region from the UN and all the organizations related to it. 

Once and for all, the resolution resolved the issue of the representation of the whole of China, including Taiwan, in the UN. It made clear that there is no such thing as "two Chinas," or "one China, one Taiwan." As an inalienable part of China's territory, Taiwan does not have any ground, reason, or right to join the UN, or any other international organization whose membership is confined to sovereign states. On this matter of principle, there is no gray zone or room for ambiguity, the spokesperson stated.

The spokesperson further pointed out that in the 1972 joint communiqué between China and the UK on the exchange of ambassadors, the UK government clearly recognized?the Chinese government's position that Taiwan is a province of China, and decided to revoke its official representative office in Taiwan with immediate effect, and recognized the government of the People's Republic of China as the sole legal government of China.

He emphasized that the motion cooked up by a handful of anti-China MPs cannot alter the basic fact and the international consensus that Taiwan is part of China, and cannot stop the overriding trend of history that China must and will realize reunification. What these MPs are trying to do is to make trouble and seek attention for themselves. The motion they concocted is nonsense.

"We urge these politicians to cease their clumsy political farce and stop challenging the one-China principle, which is a fundamental norm of international relations. The UK government must honor the clear commitment it made in the 1972 joint communiqué and put an end to the provocative actions of anti-China politicians," the spokesperson said.

Leaders from multiple countries are scheduled to visit China on Monday, including Nepal's Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, Cambodian People's Party (CPP) President and Senate President Samdech Techo Hun Sen and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. 

At the invitation of Premier of the State Council Li Qiang, Prime Minister of Nepal KP Sharma Oli will pay an official visit to China from December 2 to 5, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced.

According to The Rising Nepal, a Nepalese government-owned daily newspaper, prior to the visit, senior leaders of the ruling parties - CPN (UML) and Nepali Congress and the two-party mechanism are intensively engaging in discussions on various agendas, including discussions on the Belt and Road Initiative. 

The Prime Minister instructed delegates to play an active role to deepen bilateral relations. "Our visit to China will be successful. We will strive our best to make it remarkable," Oli said, adding that will be on "strengthening the friendly relations persisting between the two countries."

According to the newspaper, Oli will make an address at Peking University as well as at the Nepal-China Business Forum.       

The India Express reported that after assuming the post of prime minister for the fourth time in July this year, Oli has chosen to visit China for his maiden foreign visit, breaking the tradition of visiting India as the first destination.

It can be said that Oli's choice to visit China first rather than India is "not unexpected, but rather a reflection of the increasing policy choices of South Asian countries," Lin Minwang, a deputy director of the Center for South Asian Studies at Fudan University, told the Global Times on Sunday. For example, after coming to power, Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu also chose to visit China first instead of India, and other South Asian countries are actively developing relations with China. "This reflects changes in Nepal's domestic politics and its policy toward China," Lin said.

Meanwhile, Cambodian People's Party (CPP) President and Senate President Samdech Techo Hun Sen will pay an official goodwill visit to China from December 2 to 4.

This will be Hun Sen's first visit to China as President of the Senate and since he stepped down as Cambodia's prime minister in July 2023.

"As Cambodia-China People-to-People Exchange Year comes closer, the first visit to China by [Hun Sen], as President of the Senate, will add a new momentum in strengthening the ironclad friendship, promoting cooperation and partnerships. This visit will enhance cooperation and new partnerships, uplifting Cambodia-China relations and people-to-people connection," according to a press release by the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is also scheduled to visit China from December 2 to 3 at the invitation of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced on Friday.

During the visit, Wang and Baerbock will co-chair the seventh round of the China-Germany Strategic Dialogue on Diplomacy and Security, the ministry said in a notice. 

Chinese experts believe issues on Baerbock's agenda are likely to include electric vehicles and related manufacturing issues. 

"With the uncertainties in the US, countries like Germany are trying to find a balance between China and the US," said Wang Yiwei, a professor at the Renmin University of China in Beijing. "By rekindling cooperation during her visit, Baerbock aims to solidify Germany's traditional trade advantages and counteract the US' potential economic bullying," Wang told the Global Times on Sunday.

In multilateral international organizations such as the World Health Organization and the World Trade Organization, Germany needs support and collaboration from China to address new global challenges in health and trade, Wang said. The visit to China is a way to "lay the groundwork" in advance, aiming to gain China's support for future multilateral agendas and jointly promote innovations in global governance, he noted.