From April 11 to April 13, Beihang University held the 1st educational training of satellite navigation at the China-Arab States BDS/GNSS Center in Tunisia. The workshop is committed to accelerating the flows of talents and thoughts along the Belt and Road, which was voiced by Chinese President Xi Jinping in a speech at Arab League headquarters in 2016.
Ran Chengqi, Director of Management Office of BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), and Mohamed Ben Amor, Secretary-General of AICTO (Arab Information and Communication Technologies Organization), declared the opening of the training. Dean Jing Guifei of the School of BeiDou and Silk Road and Associate Professor Wu Falin of the School of Instrumentation Science and Opto-electronics Engineering of Beihang Univeristy participated in a series of activities, and co-organized the educational training with AICTO. During the event, eight experts from International Cooperation Center, Test and Assessment Research Center of China Satellite Navigation Office, BDS/GNSS Open Laboratory, China Mechanical Equipment Research Institute, Beihang University and Wuhan University respectively presented reports on the fundamental principles of satellite navigation systems and the development, performance and application of BeiDou and other GNSS systems for the Arabian and African guests. It is hoped that the African and Arabian users of BeiDou can get a better understanding of it so as to promote its application in the Arab world.
The training program was highly rated. The participants showed great interests in BeiDou, and expressed the strong will to cooperate with Beihang University in the related projects. As a vital part of the events hosted by the center, the educational training was proposed to be held irregularly, and future plans about it were discussed by all parties of the program. It is expected that the learning program will be conducive to the smooth running of all cooperative projects between Arab and China.
The inauguration ceremony of the China-Arab States BDS/GNSS Center was held in Tunisia on April 10, 2018. The establishment of the center is an important move to implement the initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping to land BeiDou in the Arab world. It is also the first overseas center of China's indigenous BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) that serves to accelerate its worldwide application.
Reported by Jin Tian
Translated by Li Siying
