Though some local governments have published their own regional administrative maps before, quite a number of regional borderlines are vague and the place names are not in compliance with government standards.

We plan to cooperate with China Network Communications Corporation (CNC) and China Telecom to build a national geographic name network. Another 15 cities are expected to launch way-asking hotline service by the end of this year.

Our goal is to build websites for Chinese cities and a way-asking system in five years, which can provide inquirers with a detailed location of any place.

Regional borderline uncertainties had long existed in China, resulting in many regional disputes. In previous Chinese atlas, 70 to 80 percent of the borderlines were marked in broken lines as an expedient to blur the border controversy.

Digitizing a place name is one of the most efficient public services a government can provide.