How China is making more out of its maps

Editor's note: August 29 marks China's National Surveying and Mapping Law Publicity Day. On the occasion of this year's 23rd observance, CGTN, at the invitation of China's Ministry of Natural Resources, looks at how China is getting more out of its maps, as surveying and mapping data are increasingly used across disaster management, public services and economic development.

With its vast territory, diverse terrain and monsoon climate, China is frequently affected by natural disasters. Last June, however, an encouraging case took place in the southern province of Guangdong, where officials in Zhonghe Village evacuated residents hours before a landslide struck.

While authorities stress that the key to effective disaster prevention lies with personnel on the ground, from conducting patrols to organizing timely evacuations, their work is increasingly supported by a broader system that collates data from across government departments.

One is China's Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR), which oversees a vast amount of geographic and geological information, including data from surveying, mapping and geological surveys. In recent years, the MNR has been working to make this information more widely available, including for disaster prevention.

In Guangdong, a province frequently affected by typhoons, authorities began developing geological disaster prevention maps in 2024. The maps, which identify areas at risk of hazards such as landslides, can help local officials plan patrols and evacuations. By 2026, the maps had been completed and distributed to all 19,145 administrative villages in the province. A mobile app also allows residents to check whether they live within a designated risk zone.

One map, multiple uses

The geological disaster prevention maps are just one application of the data held by natural resources authorities. In recent years, Guangdong has been refining what it calls its Integrated Sensing Service System—a database of satellite imagery supplemented by images captured by surveillance cameras, drones and other devices. Covering the entire province, the system uses computing tools to continuously detect changes on the ground.

The underlying geographic data can support a range of responsibilities overseen by natural resources authorities, including the management of urban development land, farmland and mining areas. When the system detects changes to a plot of farmland, for example, it can flag potential misuse or unauthorized construction and alert the relevant departments for further investigation. Officials on the ground can also feed verified information back into the system.

At the national level, the Ministry of Natural Resources is working to integrate data previously scattered across different government bodies into "one map." Local authorities, such as those in Guangdong, are also actively pursuing these efforts to strengthen digital capabilities and expand their role in data-driven governance.

Surveying, and surveilling

Not only is land data being shared; the tools used to collect it are also finding broader applications. In Nansha, Guangzhou's youngest district, drones originally deployed for land surveying took on a wider role in 2024.

If traffic authorities need an aerial view of congestion in a particular area, for example, they can submit a request through a platform developed by the Nansha branch of the city’s surveying institute. Operators then remotely dispatch a drone from one of more than 30 stations across the district and send the results back to the "customer", which includes some 40 government bodies.

By consolidating the flights through a single system, rather than having every department build and maintain its own fleet of drones, the model saves the district an estimated 30 million yuan (about $4.2 million) annually, according to local officials.

Guangzhou's natural resources authorities hope to expand the service into a citywide network they call "Guangzhou Eagle Eye." Whether Nansha's centralized approach can be replicated across the city remains to be tested, while flight restrictions add another layer of complexity.

Whether it is the "one drone" platform or the broader "one map" project, when it comes to integrating data and expanding its applications, the technological challenges could prove easier to solve than the institutional puzzle.