China has finished deploying basic elements of its BeiDou satellite navigation system, Ran Chengqi, the head of the China Satellite Navigation Office, said on Friday.

"The main elements of the BeiDou global navigation system have been completed. In 2019, 10 satellites have been launched by 7 rockets. BeiDou-3 satellite network on medium Earth orbit has been completed meaning that the positioning of BeiDou-3 elements has been finished," Ran said at a press conference.

He added that two more satellites were set to be launched in 2020, fully completing the system.

When finished, BeiDou will compete with the US Global Positioning System (GPS) and the Russian Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) and Galileo in the European Union, providing navigation services throughout the globe.