China’s State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping has launched an operation aiming to crack down on illegal mapping in the nation, according to a statement posted on its official website earlier in the month.
Working with an additional 12 governmental bodies, the bureau will enforce the mapping licenses that were made a legal requirement in May of last year. Any mapping body has until the end of the month to comply with the requirements of the licence, or face being shut down.
According to a government official, these requirements aim to reduce violations such as "unauthorised disclosure of confidential information on the maps, and mistakes in drawing the country's border, especially on islands and coastal areas".
Cases of illegal mapping are not rare in the country. The bureau punished three Germans who illegally collected geographic information in Yichang, Hubei province, and who later mapped the information on computers.
There are approximately 42,000 websites offering maps in China, but, according to state media Xinhua, as of mid-February only 105 Web sites – including Baidu, Sina, Nokia and China Mobile – have received licenses.
