China's national Beidou high-precision navigation and positioning service platform has consolidated nearly 7,000 base stations into a unified national network, providing high-precision positioning services with millimeter-level accuracy, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources of China.
Launched in 2024, the unified network is a key supporting infrastructure for the operation of the country's self-developed BeiDou Navigation System, offering centralized management of station resources. The network now encompasses 6,951 base stations across China, a significant increase from the 3,363 stations at the project's inception.
Those include 420 national-level stations, 3,093 provincial-level stations, and 3438 coordinating stations.
"We have built a unified network, raising BeiDou's positioning accuracy from several meters to just a few centimeters, and even millimeters. In eastern regions, the average spacing between stations has reached 30 kilometers, while in the west it is about 50 kilometers, forming a relatively uniform spatial distribution. The network now serves nearly 200,000 professional users nationwide," said Zhang Jun, head of the Department of Land Surveying and Mapping under the Ministry of Natural Resources.
The network provides seamless, high-precision positioning services across the country, delivering real-time, accurate and reliable navigation for sectors including public welfare mapping, resource surveying, intelligent transportation, autonomous driving, precision agriculture and social governance.
"Next, we will further refine relevant policies and regulations and enhance data sharing and use to support natural resource management, urban renewal, and emerging sectors such as the low-altitude economy. This will accelerate the industrialization and large-scale application of BeiDou," said Chen.
China’s BeiDou platform expands to nearly 7,000 base stations, bringing millimeter-level accuracy
The Navy of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said that the Strait of Hormuz has been blocked since Saturday evening and will not reopen until the United States lifts its naval blockade on the waterway.
In a statement carried by its official news outlet Sepah News, the IGRC said that the move came after the United States violated its commitments under the two-week ceasefire, which took effect on April 8, and failed to end its naval blockade against Iranian vessels and ports.
The IRGC Navy called on all vessels and their owners to follow official updates via its channel and VHF Channel 16, the international maritime distress, safety, and calling frequency. The statements by U.S. President Donald Trump hold no credibility in the strait and the Gulf, it added.
The IRGC warned that no vessel should move from its anchorage in the Gulf or the Gulf of Oman, and any approach to the strait would be deemed "cooperation with the enemy" and targeted accordingly.
Tehran's political leadership echoed the IRGC's firm position. Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf asserted that the Strait of Hormuz is under Iran's control, revealing that during previous negotiations, Iran had firmly countered U.S. attempts to carry out minesweeping operations, which Tehran viewed as a ceasefire violation.
He said the situation had come close to conflict, but the U.S. had eventually backed off.
Calling the U.S. maritime blockade "reckless and ignorant," Ghalibaf warned that passage through the strait would certainly be restricted if Washington does not lift the blockade.
Underpinning these public announcements, Iran's Supreme National Security Council on Saturday affirmed the country's resolve to exercise control and supervision over traffic through the Strait of Hormuz until the war is definitively ended and lasting peace is achieved in the region.
For its part, the United States pressed ahead with its own military measures.
The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement on Saturday that the U.S. military is imposing a maritime blockade on ships entering and exiting Iranian ports and nearby coastal areas. Since the blockade began on April 13, 23 ships have complied with U.S. directions to turn around.
Meanwhile, the U.S. military is preparing in the coming days to board Iran-linked oil tankers and seize commercial ships in international waters, The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, citing U.S. officials.
The move will enable the U.S. to take control of Iran-linked vessels around the world, including ships carrying Iranian oil that are already sailing outside the Persian Gulf and those carrying arms that could support Tehran, the report said.
Iran's IRGC says Strait of Hormuz blocked, demands end to US naval blockade
