Exhibits at a popular science contest that draws inspiration from the Beidou system.

The fourth China Satellite Navigation Conference opened today in Wuhan, Hubei province, and will run until May 17.

The event will mainly focus on the opportunities and challenges for the application of the country's domestically developed Beidou satellite navigation system, according to the organizing committee.

Much progress has been made on the system, which was just a schematic on paper at the first conference in 2010 but has since been developed into a prototype.

Satellite experts, government officials and business executives from China and other countries and regions are participating in the annual event.

High-end forums, academic exchanges, lectures and exhibitions will be held during the three-day conference. Through these activities, the participants can engage in deeper discussions about the potential for satellite navigation while boosting innovation in terms of theory, technology and application.

A private session has also been added to this year's event, during which state-of-the-art achievements will be shared with China and hot issues will be debated, such as the development of inter-satellite links.

The conference also includes a seminar for studying policy documents, standards as well as intellectual property protection on satellite navigation systems in foreign countries with the goal of summarizing advanced experiences and generating suggestions for improving the Beidou system's legal framework.

Started in 2010, the conference has developed into China's largest and most authoritative meeting in the field. Its international influence continues to grow, and it now is afforded the same academic status as the renowned United State ION international technical meetings, according to the International Committee on Global Navigation Satellite Systems.

The first three sessions were held in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, respectively.

The conference plays "a significant role in promoting technical breakthroughs, discovering talented human resources, enhancing public interest in the Beidou system, strengthening cooperation among international counterparts and so forth," said Wu Haitao, secretary-general of the fourth CSNC organizing committee.

The first session in 2010 in Beijing gathered more than 1,160 experts and delegates from research institutions and companies worldwide.

It was mainly intended to spur enthusiasm among China's academic circle for the satellite navigation and positioning industry, and it served as a medium to transfer the world's latest knowledge to Chinese specialists in this field.

Under a theme of designing the future of Beidou, the second conference in 2011 demonstrated pictures of the Beidou system and conveyed a message that Beidou would serve as a navigation tool globally by 2020.

It drew nearly 1,700 people, including academicians and governmental officials.

An award ceremony for outstanding essays about satellite navigation innovations and technical exploration was also held during the event.

In 2012, the third conference was characterized by increasing academic and international influence. The event was upgraded in terms of level and scale, according to the organizing committee.

Drawing more than 2,200 participants, it included reports delivered by government officials and business executives from the United States, Russia, Europe and Japan.

The prestigious Wuhan University is one of the organizers of the conference. The university expects the CSNC can add an academic atmosphere to its ongoing 120th anniversary celebration.

Gao Kefu contributed to the story