The first United Nations World Geospatial Information Congress that is being held in Deqing, an ancient town in Zhejiang province, from Monday to Wednesday, is a landmark event of global importance - bringing together nearly 1,000 participants from UN member countries.

Organizers say the event will be one of the largest geospatial information congresses hosted by the UN to date.

Key industries - like geospatial information and satellite navigation, big data and artificial intelligence sectors - have reported rapid growth in recent years and served important roles.

Industry experts say these industries are helping to maintain peace and security, and are fighting against natural disasters, promoting economic growth, eliminating extreme poverty, monitoring climate changes and improving the ecological environment.

Countries such as Germany, Austria, Finland, South Korea, Brazil, Spain and China have reported breakthroughs in geospatial information applications, according to People's Daily.

For instance, China has applied geospatial information to strengthen its natural resource management, while Germany has applied the technology ably to environmental protection.

Officials say the UN has paid close attention to global geospatial information management to promote its concept of sustainable development. The UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has been released to solve problems in social, economic and environmental sectors, which are closely linked with the geospatial information sector.

Supported by interested parties, the UN established the United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management, a dialogue platform for various countries and related international organizations - in the hope of strengthening cooperation and negotiating common principles, policies, methods, mechanisms and standards for geospatial information data and services.

As an intergovernmental negotiation mechanism in the world's geospatial information field, the committee has set up several special work groups and five regional committees covering all member countries.

The congress in Deqing will be a communications platform for global geospatial information management, to strengthen international cooperation and lift the capacity and ability of countries in managing geospatial information. It will also support the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, according to People's Daily.

The event will also improve sharing of global geospatial information and data on industrial development potential and expand the cooperation network among countries.

Officials say that China, which is celebrating the 40th anniversary for its reform and opening-up this year, has reported outstanding results in promoting the development of its geospatial information industry.

It has established a geospatial information database that covers all the land areas of China. The Beidou Navigation Satellite System can provide positioning services with an error that is down to centimeters.

China is also continuously improving its legal enforcement system to ensure the security of its national geospatial information.

People's Daily reported that annual growth of the output value of the geospatial information industry in China has increased at an average 20 percent year-on-year over more than a decade. Many of the projects initiated in China have won world-level awards.