China will build up an integrated mapping system to cover the ground, underground, sea, air and outer space by 2020, said a senior official of the national surveying and mapping authority.

The system, when completed, will facilitate the country's economic development, national defense and government decision-making, Li Pengde, Deputy Director of the National Administration of Surveying, Mapping and Geoinformation, told Xinhua News Agency on March 11.

The system will also provide spatial positioning information conducive to coping with emergencies and providing people with convenience.

For this purpose, Li said, the system will adopt new-generation equipment and technologies, including surveying vehicles and vessels, medium- and low-altitude remote sensing mapping platforms, aerospace mapping satellites and underground measuring robots.