Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are an increasingly important component of business, healthcare, security, government, trade, media, transportation and tourism industries and operations in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

GIS software A GIS software program is a computer program to support the use of a geographic information system, providing the ability to create, store, manage, query, Spatial analysis, analyze, and Cartographic design, visualize Geographic data and informati ...

is playing an increasing role in the way Chinese companies analyze and manage business operations.

History

Geographic information systems (GIS) first became widely available in the 1980s and 1990s, when the only source of geographic data for China was paper maps. Several universities undertook the task of

digitizing Digitization is the process of converting information into a digital (i.e. computer-readable) format.Collins Dictionary. (n.d.). Definition of 'digitize'. Retrieved December 15, 2021, from https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english ...

this information so researchers could use it. The two earliest projects were conducted by The

Australian Consortium for the Asian Spatial Information and Analysis Network Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

(ACASIAN) at

Griffith University Griffith University is a public university, public research university in South East Queensland on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of Australia. The university was founded in 1971, but was not officially opened until 1975. Griffith ...

and the China Data Center at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. ACASIAN specialized in spatial coverage while the China Data Center included GIS coverage in their mission to provide Chinese statistical and census data. High-quality GIS data is produced in China by both government organizations and private companies. China's National Spatial Data Infrastructure Project uses the

WGS84 The World Geodetic System (WGS) is a standard used in cartography, geodesy, and satellite navigation including GPS. The current version, WGS 84, defines an Earth-centered, Earth-fixed coordinate system and a geodetic datum, and also descri ...

standard. The partial timeline is: *In 1991, China's first color Map Editing and Publication System, MapCAD. *In 1995, China's first National Advanced GIS Software, Computer based GIS, MapGIS. *In 2005, The fourth generation of large-scale distributed structure GIS, MapGIS 7.0 *In 2009, China's GIS new ero—MapGIS K9.

Geographic Names Information System

In the early 1980s, China began studies for the establishment of its

Geographic Names Information System The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a database of name and location information about more than two million physical and cultural features, encompassing the United States and its territories; the Compact of Free Association, asso ...

() and Geographic Names Information System Research Laboratory, and the establishment of the National Atlas of Geographical Names database research.

Education

The China Association for Geographic Information System (),

Peking University Peking University (PKU) is a Public university, public Types of universities and colleges in China#By designated academic emphasis, university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of the Peop ...

and other institutes sponsored the first "Innovation and Development, 2006 College GIS Forum" in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

. More than 300 experts attended the forum. Sessions involved China's GIS research in multi-disciplinary fields, personnel training, and technology. China has now more than 500 institutions of higher learning training GIS-related professionals, of which more than 200 universities and colleges have established a GIS lab.

Industry

The GIS industry in China is worth 400 billion yuan per annum as of November 2007. More than 300,000 people were involved in either building or using these systems, according to Zondy Cyber Group president Wu Xincai, who is also the president of the China Association for Geographic Information System. Almost 20,000 enterprises are estimated to have engaged in the industry. The biggest vendor of GIS in China is Zondy Cyber Group, followed by SuperMap. Around 2,000 of these have GIS as a core discipline or function. The industry's rapid expansion is attributed to China's economic development, which has led to an increase in capital input, from both government and businesses. Between 2001 and 2005, the Ministry of Information Industry allocated more than 20 million yuan to fund the development and application of GIS. GIS has been used in land survey, mineral exploitation, water conservancy and

environmental protection Environmental protection, or environment protection, refers to the taking of measures to protecting the natural environment, prevent pollution and maintain ecological balance. Action may be taken by individuals, advocacy groups and governments. ...

. It also has applications in

power generation Electricity generation is the process of generating electric power from sources of primary energy. For utilities in the electric power industry, it is the stage prior to its delivery ( transmission, distribution, etc.) to end users or its stora ...

, mapping,

telecommunication Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...

, and the

management Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a Government agency, government bodies through business administration, Nonprofit studies, nonprofit management, or the political s ...

public administration Public administration, or public policy and administration refers to "the management of public programs", or the "translation of politics into the reality that citizens see every day",Kettl, Donald and James Fessler. 2009. ''The Politics of the ...

and

public services A public service or service of general (economic) interest is any service (economics), service intended to address the needs of aggregate members of a community, whether provided directly by a public sector agency, via public financing availab ...

Notable persons

Chen Shupeng (1920–2008) is considered the founder of

remote sensing Remote sensing is the acquisition of information about an physical object, object or phenomenon without making physical contact with the object, in contrast to in situ or on-site observation. The term is applied especially to acquiring inform ...

and GIS in China. Chen started the State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information System (LREIS) in 1987.

Institutions

Major institutions include: * National Geographic Information System () * National Fundamental Geographic Information System * National Geomatics Center of China * State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping * Institute of Soil Sciences, The

Chinese Academy of Sciences The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS; ) is the national academy for natural sciences and the highest consultancy for science and technology of the People's Republic of China. It is the world's largest research organization, with 106 research i ...

* The Data Sharing Network of Earth System Science * SuperMap is a stand-alone GIS program and data provider. They have several large contracts with the Chinese government and are one of the few sources for 1:500 scale map data which they offer for a limited number of cities. * MapWorld provides 1:10,000 and 1:25,000 scale data on a range of topics from administrative boundaries to facilities management. They provide datum and projection information and prepare data in either ESRI or MapInfo formats. * Beijing Creation Science & Technology Development specializes in personalized data sets at any scale. They also prepare and process satellite images. * State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information System (LREIS) * Laboratory of Remote Sensing and Geospatial Science * China University of Geosciences

Global navigation satellite system

BeiDou Navigation Satellite System The BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS; ) is a satellite-based radio navigation system owned and operated by the China National Space Administration. It provides geolocation and time information to a BDS receiver anywhere on or near the ...

is used for GIS data gathering

Notes

References

* Jiang Jingtong, and Liu Ruomei
"China Profile Of The International Standard: Geographic Information – Metadata.”
Presented at ICC2005 – International Cartographic Conference, La Coruna, Spain, July 9–16, 2005.

Michele Ladenson and Zhixiang Lu, University of Texas-Dallas, November 2006
Recent Progress in China’s NSDI Development

On Developing Spatial Data Infrastructure of China

The Exemplary Effect of GeoStar in the Spatial Data Infrastructure Construction in China

Framework and development of digital China

Applications of Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System in China in China’s Land Survey, Evaluation and Administration

Leader of geographical information system studies in China
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Development of geographic information systems (GIS) in China: An overview
Geographic data and information by country Geographic information systems Geography of China zh:地理信息系统