Thaindian News

Beijing, Oct 22 (ANI): It’s official now. China has launched its online mapping service as Google Inc is yet to apply for a license to provide a similar service in the country.

The service will provide ‘comprehensive geological data’, Xu Deming, director of the State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping (SBSM), said here during its launch on Thursday.

“The government-backed ‘Map World’ is free and will allow users to search for two and three-dimensional images across the world and other information,” he added.
“In the near future, ‘Map World’ will grow to be a famous Chinese brand for online map services with proven reliability,” Deming was quoted as saying.

Reports from Beijing said though users can enter ‘Map World’ directly through www.tianditu.cn or www.chinaonmap.cn, the technology and website construction were still “at a preliminary stage”.

“It took about two years to prepare the service with all the satellite images taken from 2006 to 2010,” China Daily quoted another SBSM official Jiang Jie as saying.

The service is expected to update its geological data twice a year, while Google Earth is able to update every couple of minutes, he said.

Google’s mapping service in China was hit after the government introduced a regulation in May that required companies providing online map and location services in China to apply for approval. (ANI)