Cities in China will complete digital surveying and mapping to facilitate planning and management by the end of 2015, the State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping said Friday.

Information gathered will form an information database of urban geography covering objects ranging from utility manholes and street lamps to skyscrapers and rivers in each city.

The digital database will serve as the sole authoritative geographical information source for each city, said the bureau's director Xu Deming.

All the databases will be nationally networked so governments at national, provincial and municipal levels can share information, Xu said.

China launched pilot projects for digital surveying and mapping in 30 cities in 2006, which was extended to a further 60 cities this year.

By 2015, 286 cities will have geographical information databases, said Xu.

(Xinhua News Agency August 29, 2009)