China Wants Its Carmakers to Use a Homegrown Version of GPS

  • Government promotes state-developed Beidou system for cars
  • GPS is maintained by U.S., was developed with defense funding
Photographer: Martyn Goddard/Getty Images
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China is encouraging automakers to install its answer to the U.S.-developed Global Positioning System and advance autonomous driving technology as part of a broader push to upgrade the country’s transportation sector.

The government will promote the state-developed Beidou Navigation Satellite System as the standard configuration for vehicle-navigation devices and smartphones, according to a plan issued Friday by the National Development and Reform Commission and Ministry of Transport.