BEIJING -- China has made breakthroughs in the anti-jamming capability of its Beidou satellite navigation system (BDS), the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Daily said Thursday.

The new technology, developed by Wang Feixue and his team from the National University of Defense Technology, has made the satellites 1,000 times more secure, the newspaper said.

In March, China launched the 17th BDS satellite, the first step in expanding the regional system to a global one.

The first BDS satellite was launched in 2000 to provide an alternative to foreign satellite navigation systems. In December 2012, the system began to provide positioning, navigation, timing and short message services to China and some parts of the Asia Pacific.

The BDS global network will have 35 satellites, five of which will be in geostationary orbit. The complete network should be installed by 2020.