A lightship which uses the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) is seen in a water channel on the Pearl River estuary in south China's Guangdong Province, June 20, 2019. (Xinhua/Tian Jianchuan)

A base focusing on the utilization of China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) to better serve the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been established in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

The China-ASEAN BDS base is located in the regional capital of Nanning, where a forum on China-ASEAN BDS application scenarios and industrial development was held Thursday.

At the forum, which was one of the activities under the 17th China-ASEAN Expo, three agreements were signed by companies from China, Thailand, Cambodia and the Philippines outlining cooperation in the application of the BDS system.

Ran Chengqi, director of the China Satellite Navigation Office, said the service performance of the BDS system in the ASEAN area is among the best in any region worldwide.

With the BDS-3 system having been commissioned on July 31, the ASEAN countries -- Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam -- will enjoy more accurate, more reliable and more diverse and precise services provided by the BDS, said Ran.

The BDS-3 system is the first space infrastructure China has provided for global public service.