Mapping platform company Esri, and the National Geomatics Center of China (NGCC) held a signing ceremony in Beijing, China, have signed an agreement that will allow more users who reside outside of China to access the country’s authoritative cartographic and imagery data. Users of the Esri ArcGIS platform will have access to the maps for no additional charge.

“The cooperation between NGCC and Esri will enable a large number of ArcGIS online users to gain access to the rich regional online geodata of China,” said Zhigang Li, NASG Chief Engineer, on behalf of NASG. “The agreement will facilitate the scientific and technological communication between agencies by sharing geographic information and services over the web in the Asia Pacific Region.”

NGCC is a government agency attached to National Administration of Surveying, Mapping (NASG) and Geoinformation of China. NGCC is responsible for national data that is used in surveying and mapping projects in China, as well as facilitating the scientific and technological communication between agencies in China, in the areas of sharing geographic data and services over the web.