All Mapped Out: China launches its own online map service

A report this week in the China Daily (spotted via the English People's Daily website) says officials with the State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping have announced “more than 100 domestic and overseas companies that provide online mapping services have received licenses to continue doing business in China, while another 100 [are] still applying for a license.”

Nokia’s Alliance Internet Services (a joint venture between the Finnish handset maker and a Shanghai company) was among those on the list of approved companies, but mention of Google’s online mapping service was conspicuously absent from the article, which could spell bad news for the online giant and its users in China -- when asked about Google’s status, officials reportedly sidestepped the question, merely stating “China's Internet market is open and free and those who conduct online mapping services in China should abide by Chinese law.”

Most ominous for Google was the Bureau’s announcement that “after July 1 administrative action will be taken against any unlicensed mapping service providers” -- Mobinode tech blogger Lu Gang speculates that since the licensing regulations stipulate the servers of online map service providers be located within the Chinese mainland, Google, whose China service servers are currently based in Hong Kong, and a whole host of users, app makers and websites (including this one) who depend on Google maps are in a bind.

Microsoft’s Bing mapping service was also not mentioned in the article, but given their relatively less tumultuous history with Chinese authorities, they may have less to worry about – which is all the more reason they should work to improve their less-than-stellar online maps for Beijing (a search for our offices in the CBD’s Wanda Plaza shows us just north of Xidan).

The announcements were made at a press conference to unveil “Map World” (Tianditu), China’s new state run online map service. According to The Global Times, Map World “enables viewers to see 3D versions of flat maps in addition to providing regular mapping and locating services as Google Earth does” (which begs the question as to how, exactly, this technology was procured) and reportedly has over “11 million place names in it. Among them are some 120,000 points of interests including hotels, restaurants, retail businesses, government institutions, banks and roads.” The Bureau claims over 30 million users have already tried the service already.

A head-to-head test run we conducted between Map World and Google Maps revealed a similar level accuracy and detail when it came to locating Wanda Plaza (pity poor Bing) – although Map World seemed slightly more detailed with restaurants like Pho 88 displayed. The main difference, however, appears to be the current lack of English on Map World. We spotted an ‘English Placename’ tab on the main map page that allows users to enter an English place name, but the site does not appear to display locations in English beneath the city layer – there's no word yet if there will be an expanded English Map World site.