A Shanghai technology company on Thursday unveiled the country's first homemade navigation chip that is expected to be the heart of China's satellite-based navigation system, a local newspaper reported Friday.

The "Navigation I" chip, developed by Shanghai Fukonghualong Technology Co, can be applied on the country's homemade Beidou satellite navigation system, Shanghai Morning Post reported.

The Beidou system, mainly used for economic purposes, has played a significant role in cartography, telecommunications, water conservation, transportation, fishery, prospecting, forest fire monitoring and national security.

The system was developed domestically and has been studied since the 1990s. A trial system was completed in 2003, according to previous story.

China is one of the several countries in the world capable of developing such a system on its own.

The system can help clients know their location at any time and place with accurate longitude, latitude and altitude data.

It will be used in the coming Beijing Olympics to pinpoint traffic congestion and supervise venues along with the GPS and will also appear at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo.

(Shanghai Daily February 25, 2008)