China Friday completed a system designed to monitor the movement of the Earth's crust and predict earthquakes, officials said.

Based on satellite navigation, the system involves a network of 260 permanent observing stations and 2,000 part-time observing stations with data-processing technology.

It will also be used for weather forecasting and scientific research, among other purposes, Xinhua quoted the China Earthquake Administration as saying.

Experts in charge of the project agreed that the outcome is a comprehensive, precise and versatile geoscientific resource, and that its information should be shared.

The new network joins the US's Plate Boundary Observation system and Japan's GEONE as the most advanced means of observing the movement of the Earth's crust.

China started the project in December 2007, with an investment of 524 million yuan ($83.2 million).

Source: Indo-Asia News Service