Nation 'leads world' in remote sensing technology

China is now the world leader in remote sensing technologies for scientific purposes and is able to provide an unprecedented amount of data to support research and development for the world, officials said on Tuesday.

Remote sensing refers to aerial or satellite-based technologies to detect and measure objects on Earth's surface, atmosphere and oceans.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Science and Technology's National Remote Sensing Center published its annual 2017 Global Ecological Environment Sensing report, detailing landscapes, resources, roads, vegetation and other geological factors for more than 170 countries and regions across Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania.