As China completes the global deployment of its BeiDou-3 Navigation Satellite System, officials are now focused on exporting the technology under Beijing's "Belt and Road" initiative, signaling a shift from building the constellation to driving widespread international adoption. The move also opens a new frontier for China's navigation chipmakers, which see rising opportunities to challenge Western dominance in positioning and timing technologies.
Developed and operated entirely by China, the BeiDou system now stands alongside GPS, Galileo, and GLONASS as one of the world's four major global navigation networks. Beijing has already signed cooperation agreements with countries including the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Thailand to promote BeiDou-based services in transportation monitoring, land surveying, agriculture, and disaster management.
At the 2025 International BeiDou Applications Summit, Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang said China will build more overseas BeiDou application centers and accelerate industrial adoption abroad.
This global expansion goes beyond exporting a navigation system—it extends to chips, modules, and algorithm technologies built around it. That could give Chinese manufacturers a chance to erode the long-held dominance of American, European, and Japanese firms in the global positioning market.
The chip opportunity behind Beidou's global push
Powered by BeiDou-3's short message communication and Satellite-Based Augmentation System (SBAS) services, Chinese chipmakers are developing multifunctional devices that combine communications, positioning, and data integration. These advances stretch from consumer IoT devices to aerospace systems.
Technically, Chinese firms have achieved full-stack autonomy from baseband to RF chip design, while internationalization efforts are turning domestic "substitutes" into true global contenders.
Beijing BDStar Navigation, one of China's leading players, has built a vertically integrated supply chain spanning algorithms, chips, modules, and data services under its "Cloud + Chip" strategy. Subsidiary Unicorecomm has specialized in GNSS chips since 2009, filling a key technological gap in China's early satellite navigation industry.
Zhuhai Aerospace Microchips Science & Technology, another key company, focuses on radiation-hardened, high-reliability chips used in BeiDou satellites. Its new Yulong 810A embedded AI processor—built on FD-SOI technology and integrating Arm and SPARC architectures—supports BeiDou short-message communication and precision positioning. Designed to function in extreme environments, it also powers low-power modules for drones and wearables.
In high-precision and automotive-grade navigation, Chengdu Corpro Technology and Hwa Create have achieved notable breakthroughs. Hwa Create's new BeiDou-3 SoC integrates both RF and baseband functions, reducing power consumption while boosting interference resistance. It is used in drones, in-car navigation, and satellite communications. The firm is also partnering with DJI to develop precision agriculture systems with location accuracy of ±2.5 centimeters.
Allystar Technology, part of the state-owned CEC group, produces centimeter-level positioning chips for rail inspection and bridge monitoring, while Techtotop has released the country's first automotive-grade BeiDou chip certified under AEC-Q100 Grade 2 standards, supporting multi-constellation navigation in a compact 5×5 mm package.
Zhongke Microelectronics, targeting consumer and industrial markets, offers ultra-low-power chips supporting BeiDou-3 signals with applications in shared mobility and wearable devices. Its automotive-grade products have been adopted by BYD and Great Wall Motor, achieving dynamic positioning accuracy of about two meters.
A complete "System–Chip–Application" ecosystem
With both system capabilities and semiconductor technology advancing in tandem, industry analysts estimate that the total value of China's BeiDou-related industries could exceed CNY 500 billion in the coming years. The ecosystem now spans from satellite systems to chip design and end-user applications—an integrated "system–chip–application" model that underscores China's ambitions to globalize its space-based technology stack.
Article edited by Jack Wu
