China is the world’s second largest economy (GDP) with a predicted growth of 7.5% in 2012. China is developing its own Global Navigation Satellite System, named COMPASS which will consist of a constellation of 35 satellites, which include 5 geostationary orbit (GEO) satellites and 30 Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellites.
Despite some past disagreements China and the European Union continue to commit to cooperation in GNSS. In this framework the DragonFly program was conducted on behalf of the European GNSS Supervisory Authority (GSA) from 2008-2009 to identify possible synergies and areas of cooperation between China and EU in GNSS-enabled applications.
In China the European Chamber of Commerce in China (EUCCC) is the driving force behind the GNSS.asia project, bringing its own experience, network and industrial cooperation expertise to make the project a sustainable success.
More information on the GNSS background of China and the local activities related to the GNSS.asia project can be found at http://china.gnss.asia .