Millions of taxis, buses and trucks were also able to receive Beidou signals.
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When the first Beidou satellites were launched in 2000, coverage was limited to China.
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The Asian country is also deploying its own satellite-navigation system known as BeiDou, or Compass.
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Ahead of the Beidou-3 completion, satellite-related shares have soared.
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Thailand and Pakistan were the first foreign countries to sign up for Beidou's services, in 2013.
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In the age of the iPhone, the second generation of Beidou satellites went operational in 2012, covering the Asia-Pacific.
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And China's global navigation satellite system, known as BeiDou, has some capabilities that outmatch even the United States' GPS.
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When complete, Beidou's location services are accurate down to 10 cm in the Asia-Pacific, compared with GPS's 30-cm range.
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Global Times said China's homegrown Beidou navigation system had inter-satellite links to reduce reliance on ground stations and ensure the continuity of high-precision global services.
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This month, Thailand became the first overseas client of Beidou, which also competes with similar satellite-based constellations such as Russia's Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS).