China

ChinaGEOSS Data Sharing Network has successfully established a national-level GEOSS infrastructures to integrate large number of archived satellite data, AI-ready data, scientific paper data and in-situ data. Facing the GEO engagement priorities, it provides more then 5300 datasets to international users through a unified data portal, ensuring easy and seamless access to a wide range of China’s Earth observation resources. It is also the main channel for domestic and international data exchanges, ChinaGEOSS completely shared 5.68 million data to GEOSS Portal from 2016 to 2024 and made a significant contribution to the implementation of AOGEO IPS project.

The Institute of Karst Geology (IKG) of Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, has conducted a pilot initiative during 2023 to 2025: Earth Observations for Global Typical Karst (EO4KARST) focusing on water resources, land use and related resources protection in typical karst areas globally. So far, EO4KARST has built up an observation network with 32 sites built or absorbed in this network by sharing the authorized data. An initial online platform for sharing and managing the data with the related APP is developed into trial operation stage, which is planned to be formally operated by the end of 2025. EO4KARST is hoping to provide a practical big data platform for assisting the sustainable development of the fragile karst areas all over the world.

The China Brazil Earth Resources Satellite (CBERS) Data Distribution and Service Capacity Building Project for Southern Africa began at the fourth Plenary of GEO. In the past years, China Centre for Resources Satellite Data and Application (CRESDA) and South African National Space Agency (SANSA) have been working closely to realize the direct reception and processing of data from three satellites, CBERS-02B, CBERS-04 and CBERS-04A, at Hartbeeshock ground station in South Africa and the distribution in Southern Africa countries. These satellite data have played actively roles in disaster monitoring, environmental protection, land use and other fields. The project is one of the most successful practices of GEO to promote global data sharing, achieving common scientific and technological progress and promoting Earth observation technology to benefit mankind, and is also a successful case of space science and technology cooperation between China and South Africa.

GEO China initiated the Collaborative Network of Disaster Data Response (CDDR) in 2016 in response to the GEO’s call for global coordinated disaster risk reduction. The CDDR mechanism has a membership of 34 China’s satellite agencies and 9 international Organizations, which contributes to the implementation of the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. As of 2024, it had integrated 30 high resolution optical, radar, and hyperspectral satellites to cope with 56 major disaster emergency events such as earthquakes, floods, landslides, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions in 37 countries.

Chinese government in collaboration with relevant EO related authorities of African countries and ASEAN countries jointly build the China-Africa Cooperation Center on Satellite Remote Sensing Application (CACSA) and ASEAN-China Satellite Remote Sensing Application Centre (ACSAC), which uphold data-sharing network, carry out public goods development, satellite remote sensing monitoring and application demonstration, personnel training and exchange, so as to build a hub of knowledge sharing, experience exchange, and innovation in EO field. Moreover, Land Satellite Remote Sensing Application Center, MNR (LASAC) has jointly established 35 oversea nodes with 32 countries and 3 international organizations of Natural Resources Satellite Remote Sensing Cloud Service Platform (SatClouds) worldwide, shared more than 283,479 scenes within 9,857 baths and 369 TB of 2-meter resolution satellite images covering 112 countries and territories. These data have achieved the expected results in various domains of EO in the partner GEO Members.

The Pengcheng Laboratory and the University of Hong Kong have introduced an innovative Global 30-m Seamless Data Cube (SDC 30), integrating multi-source satellite data. This advanced system systematically converts fragmented and noise-affected satellite observations into standardized temporal sequences, a better analysis-ready dataset. They are also sharing the first global near-daily wetland dynamics dataset produced from SDC30. The data are accessible through iEarth, a service system developed on the Pengcheng Cloud Brain II computing infrastructure. Over 6600 users from 75 countries and regions have registered and downloaded data from the iEarth platform (https://data-starcloud.pcl.ac.cn/iearthdata/).

Currently, China has eight Fengyun satellites in orbit, providing real-time data and products to users around the world. We have established a Fengyun satellite emergency support mechanism (FY_ESM) and developed a series of web-based satellite application service platforms (FY Earth and regional versions) to ensure rapid response and comprehensive use of Fengyun satellite data for global weather, climate and disaster monitoring. In the next two years, China will launch three Fengyun geostationary meteorological satellites to strengthen the global early warning system, support the United Nations "Early Warnings for All" initiative and the four major priorities of GEO, and provide support for decision-making and action.

The 7th AOGEO (Asia-Oceania Group on Earth Observations) Workshop, with the theme of "Technology Advancement and Action of AOGEO for GEO Earth Intelligence Era", was held in Kunming China in February 2025. It brought together more than 80 participants from 14 countries (Japan, Australia, South Korea, Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Singapore, etc.) in Asia-Oceania region. More than 7900 people watched the broadcast through the through an open-access journal livestreaming platform in association with AIRCAS.

SDGSAT-1 has obtained more than 400,000 scenes of global imagery data since its launch in 2021. Through the “SDGSAT-1 Open Science Program”, researchers from 104 countries have signed up to access the SDGSAT-1 data to conduct research and support informed decision-making related to sustainable development. SDG Big Data Platform, the big data cloud service infrastructure platform for SDGs, has stored a total of 19.78 petabytes of earth science data, serving over 100 countries and regions worldwide. Data products for sustainable development have also been developed and released. In 2024, for example, seven sets of African sustainable development data products were presented to Philemon Yang, president of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly, during the event themed “Global Development Initiative Supports the Global South -- China in Action,” held at the UN headquarters in New York. The report series “Big Earth Data in Support of the Sustainable Development Goals”, drafted by the research team from the International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals (CBAS), have been released for six straight years. The 2023 edition was released at the High-level Meeting on Global Development Initiative Cooperation Outcomes held in New York. The latest report was launched on the UN website in September 2024.

With the support of GEO and its member community, we have enhanced the use of Earth Observation (EO) data to monitor the ecological environments of Pacific Island nations. In 2024, we released the "Remote Sensing Monitoring Report on the Ecological Environment in Pacific Island States (2024)", which reveals urbanization, coastline changes, and mangrove dynamics in Pacific Island nations since 2000. Additionally, we released individual remote sensing monitoring reports for 12 Pacific Island States, providing detailed analyses tailored to each state’s unique environmental conditions. Furthermore, we conducted an international training program for 26 participants from 15 Small Island Developing States (SIDS), strengthening their capabilities in marine and coastal ecological monitoring and disaster forecast. We also provided remote sensing emergency monitoring services for disasters such as earthquakes and landslides in Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu, with one report published on the SPREP website (https://pacific-data.sprep.org/dataset/vanuatu-earthquake-satellite-imagery-analysis-report). These initiatives have bolstered the resilience of Pacific Island nations to climate change through data-driven coastal management. For more information, please visit our website: https://resoc.sio.org.cn.

National Disaster Reduction Center of China (NDRCC), as one of GEO Disaster Risk Reduction Working Group member agency, under the umbrella of GEO, actively engaged to facilitate to better using space-based technology for DRR, such as implementing a key R&D project for exploring the critical indicators and methodologies of Earth Observation applications under Sendai Framework, supporting UN-SPIDER Beijing Office for having held 10 years of annual Space-based Technologies for Disaster Risk Reduction Beijing Conference and providing satellite images and emergency mapping service for major disasters including the 2025 Myanmar Earth quake. Facing the GEO's Post-2025, we are willing to leverage increasing Chinese satellites for global disaster risk understanding, emergency response, S&T innovations.

I believe that in the future, GEO will further leverage the advantages of inter-governmental and international organizations to promote the connectivity of Earth observation infrastructure, the smooth flow of spatial and geographic information elements, the harmonization of concepts and philosophies among countries with a value orientation of inclusiveness and mutual learning, and the heart-to-heart bond among the international general public, aiming at jointly boosting stronger, greener, and more sustainable future shared by all.

From May 29 to 31, we successfully held the 6th AOGEO Workshop in Macau, China. Under the theme ‘Demand-driven Advancements in Earth Observation Technology and Application’, the Workshop attracted more than 80 offline participants from 18 countries and 6700 participants online among which heated discussions were delivered covering various region-specific topics including capacity building, youth’s participation in GEO, open data and open knowledge, etc. As the GEO co-chair representing AOGEO and developing countries, China will continue dedicating efforts into regional Earth observation advancement in pursuit of a balanced and mutual development to close digital and information gaps.

GEO China initiated the Collaborative Network of Disaster Data Response (CDDR) in 2016 in response to the GEO’s call for global coordinated disaster risk reduction. By October, 2023, the CDDR mechanism has been triggered 47 times in total by global major disasters including earthquakes, volcano eruption, floods, tsunami, typhoon, wild fires, explosion, avalanche, among others in 33 countries. Satellite data, images, disaster analysis, rapid mapping and related services sourced from more than 30 public and commercial Chinese satellites were provided to affected countries for free. In the future, China welcomes contributions from more countries and institutions to CDDR, enabling countries with insufficient capacity in disaster risk reduction to benefit from Earth observations.

Under the direction of GEO China Secretariat (NRSCC), targeting the GEO Engagement Priority of Resilient City and Human Settlement, GEO China Expert Working Group closely keeps pace with GEO’s advancement. Together with multi-disciplinary talents applying Earth observations, we are building an integrated space-air-ground monitoring system, leveraging the sensing intelligence for all in our cities and human settlement. We will continue transforming scientific research into applicable and accessible EO services and products to secure a sustainable and resilient future in support for the New Urban Agenda along with other global initiatives.

Based on long time-series Earth observation satellite data and socio-economic data, we have developed SDGs indicators and local dynamic monitoring and evaluation platform, aiming at analyzing transformation between SDGs indicators and geoinformation and calculating SDGs indicators to support dynamic and normalized monitoring. The application case of this platform was delivered in Deqing, China, and exhibited an 8-minute coverage of medical facilities. The case was also presented at the UN Summit on Sustainable Development Goals in Sept., 2023.

Initiated by National Remote Sensing Center of China in 2012, Global Ecosystem and Environment Observation Analysis Research Cooperation (GEOARC) has been consecutively releasing analytical reports and datasets for more than 10 years, covering a wide range of topics such as water, cities, climate change, natural disasters, crop, cryosphere and so on, in which EO tools are used to support decision making, capacity building and scientific research. So far, GEOARC has published 31 annual reports and 115 open access datasets in total.

On February 6, 2023, Earthquakes occurred in southern Turkey within 10 hours, causing heavy casualties, serious damage to social and economic facilities in 11 provinces of Turkey and parts of Syria. UNOSAT has collaborated with Wuhan University for the disaster loss mapping. Night-time imagery from Chinese satellites and U.S. satellites were combined to track the electricity loss and recovery in the disaster-affected cities.

United at the first China GEO Conference, China GEO community further strengthens in-depth research to address common global challenges and carry out cooperation on food security early warning, ecological environment monitoring and climate change response. We hope to help building a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind through a joint effort.

Established in 2016, Collaborative network on Disaster Data Response (CDDR) is responsible for coordinating the provision of Chinese high-resolution satellite data and disaster analysis products to disaster-affected countries. By October 2022, the CDDR mechanism had provided information services to cope with 35 major disaster emergency events such as earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, storm surges, wild fire and explosions in 25 countries.

Two new members of the Fengyun satellite family, Fengyun 3E and Fengyun 4B, were put into operation on June 1, 2022. We provide various forms of data sharing, downloading and processing services. Applications using Fengyun satellite data, especially those aiming at GEO priorities including sustainable development, climate change, and disaster resilience, are very welcome.

Under the GEO Community Activity “In-Situ Observations and Applications for Typical Ecosystem Status of China and Central-Asia”, a 12-day training workshop on ecosystem monitoring in China and Central Asia was organized with 30 participants from 6 countries, which enhanced monitoring capacity of technicians and research staff from the Central Asia for their better environment status review.

From 2020 to 2022, GEOARC advocated analysis-ready open data by integrating multiple EO data to generate common products. GEOARC released 4 annual reports and 41 datasets for ecosystem and environmental monitoring to support the GEO priorities, organized more than 10 task group sectorial meetings in AOGEO Symposium, GEO Week side events, training and other activities.

The Zero Hunger Goal is an important part of UN SDGs and an important mission of GEO. The global agricultural remote sensing monitoring cloud service platform, CropWatch was developed since 1998. Over the past 20 years, CropWatch has been providing public information sharing services on agricultural monitoring, enhancing agricultural capacity building in developing countries, and increasing the transparency of global agricultural information. CropWatch will follow GEO's strategic vision to further advance the accessibility and EO application to decision-making for the benefit of humankind.

Encouraged by GEO and the GEO Member Community, we have conducted remote sensing monitoring of habitat suitability and dynamic forecasting of occurrence risk for globally significant migratory and epidemic crop pests and diseases (desert locust, fall armyworm, wheat rust, etc.), and published scientific reports. The outcomes have been adopted, shared, and released more than 100 times by domestic and international government departments, organizations, institutions, and industrial enterprises. With these services, we have promoted the practical application of products and contributed to the achievement of SDG and disaster risk reduction objectives.

In June 2022, supported by GEO and AOGEO community, the 5th AOGEO Workshop was held online with the adoption of 2022 AOGEO Announcement. More than 130 delegates from 16 countries attended this workshop online and over 500 people watched the broadcast. The theme of this year is “Harmony and Empowerment: Accelerate Action and Development”. AOGEO will accelerate action to promote synergistic development and regional empowerment in response to regional needs.

On September 20, China announced to make the data acquired by the Sustainable Development Science Satellite (SDGSAT-1) launched by China in November last year available globally to assist countries in sustainable development research and decision-making. China released the Report on Big Earth Data in Support of the Sustainable Development Goals (2022), which studies the interactions among SDG indicators and their integrated evaluations, providing scientific evidences for quantitative and systematic evaluating the implementation of SDGs at national, regional and global level.