The system of surveying and mapping laws and regulations has been gradually improved. The Surveying and Mapping Law promulgated on July 1, 1993 played an important role in the development of surveying and mapping undertaking. Since the promulgation of the Law, the State Council issued three administrative regulations which are Provisions on Management of Surveying and Mapping, Regulations on Map Compilation and Publication, and Regulations on Management of Surveying Markers. The Ministry of Land and Resources issued several department rules such as

Provisions on Management of the Publication of Important Geographic Information and Data, Provisions on Management of Map Examination and Verification, and Interim Measures on Management of Surveying and Mapping Activities Conducted by Foreign Organizations and Individuals. For five years after the revision of the Surveying and Mapping Law, twenty-seven provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities issued their local surveying and mapping regulations and governmental rules. The system of surveying and mapping laws and regulation with the Surveying and Mapping Law as the core and regulations and rules as supplementary has been basically established, which forms a legal foundation for further strengthening the service capacity of surveying and mapping.

Surveying and mapping administration according to law has been carried out in all respects. Running administration according to law is the basic requirement of building harmonious society. Surveying and mapping departments are carrying out the Outline of Implementation of Promoting Administration according to Law of the State Council, strengthen publicity and education on national territory consciousness, rectified the map market, dealt with numerous cases of illegal use of maps, improved system for managing surveying and mapping activities conducted by foreigners, enhanced supervision on website maps, improved surveying and mapping administrative licensing system, practiced online examination and approval of surveying and mapping qualification and maps, speeded up the responsibility system of surveying and mapping law enforcement and greatly maintained the surveying and mapping market order.

Remarkable achievements have been scored in scientific and technological progress. Surveying and mapping departments carried out the strategy of invigorating surveying and mapping by relying on science and technology and gave priority to technical innovation. The surveying and mapping science and technology in China have been greatly promoted to world level. We have developed a number of world level products with our own property rights such as digital photogrammetry work station and GIS software platform. The surveying and mapping sector witnessed the transformation of analogue systems to digital systems in the Tenth Five-year Plan period. At present, SBSM is making effort to build IT-based surveying and mapping system characterized by real time data acquisition, automatic data processing, network data transmission, and socialized information services.

Notable progress has been made in basic surveying and mapping. With the increase of the budget at different levels of government, the service capacity of basic surveying and mapping has been greatly increased. In recent years, progress has been made in the building of geospatial framework for digital China, the 1:50,000 database of China national geographic information has been set up, large scale databases in some provinces, cities and counties have been updated. In 2005, we re-measured and published the height of Mount Qomolangma and published. At present, SBSM is organizing the implementation of the project of 1:50,000 topographic maps of western region.

Outstanding surveying and mapping services have been provided. To provide good surveying and mapping service is the starting point and goal of surveying and mapping work. In the past few years, SBSM provided over 30 ministries and provinces with geographic information data at different levels, established the mechanism of joint construction and sharing of geographic information with a dozen of departments like Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Transportation, and State Environmental Protection Administration. Surveying and mapping organizations development over 200 management systems based on geographic information for Party Central Committee, the State Council, relevant ministries and local governments, produced large amount of maps for decision making, provided surveying and mapping services for more than 200 key projects such as Three Gorges Dam, South-to-north Water Transfer, and West-East Gas Pipeline, produced and updated maps for 997 counties in the west area, developed digital maps for navigation and tourist maps that are closely related to people’s daily life.

Surveying and mapping is playing more and more important roles in China’s social and economic development, which is widely used in macro economic regulation, regional development coordination, building resource-efficient and environmentally friendly society, development of E-governance and E-commerce, construction of public emergency response system and anti-terrorist system, intellectual transportation system, satellite navigation system, and tourism. Surveying and mapping undertaking is faced with both challenges and opportunities in the fast growing social and economic development. The Party central committee and the State Council pay much high attention to surveying and mapping work. The Party and state leader gave instructions on surveying and mapping work. They stressed on “promoting the building of geospatial framework for digital China, speeding up the construction of IT-based surveying and mapping systems and enhancing the service capacity of surveying and mapping”. They also called for “making new breakthroughs in improving management system, independent technical innovation, and fast data transmission, making efforts in the implementation of key projects, enhance the level of application, supervision, guarantee and service. The Surveying and mapping departments will carry out the scientific outlook on development, work strenuously to improve the legal system, promote administration according to law, invigorate surveying and mapping by relying on science and technology, speed up the building of the system of joint-construction and sharing of geographic information, promote wider application of surveying and mapping results, speed up the building of China’s IT-based surveying and mapping systems, and strengthen the service capacity of surveying and mapping.

This year is the fifth anniversary of the promulgation of revised Surveying and Mapping Law, let us all give our concern and supports to the development of surveying and mapping undertaking so as to allow us to make better service for social and economic development.