HKO and National Time Service Center sign agreement to strengthen collaboration in time services (with photos)
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The agreement was signed by the Director of the HKO, Dr Chan Pak-wai, and the Director of the NTSC, Dr Zhang Shougang. The Secretary for Environment and Ecology of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Mr Tse Chin-wan, witnessed the signing ceremony.
At the signing ceremony, Dr Chan said, "The HKO was set up in 1883. The provision of an accurate time service, particularly for mariners, has been one of its primary responsibilities since its establishment. From astronomical observations using the transit instrument at the beginning to the introduction of pendulum clocks in the 1920s, quartz-controlled timing systems in the 1960s, and then the adoption of the caesium beam atomic clock commencing in 1980, the Observatory's timing services have continuously developed with the times. Recognising that the NTSC is the official keeper of China's Atomic Time Standard and the developer of spaceborne atomic clocks, the platform for space-ground integrated satellite navigation time service, and the high-precision ground-based time service system, now is an opportune time to strengthen close collaboration between the HKO and the NTSC from a national strategic perspective."
Dr Zhang said, "The NTSC is the only specialised and comprehensive research institute in China dedicated to both the foundational and applied research in time and frequency. We are responsible for generating, maintaining, and disseminating China's National Standard Time (Beijing Time). In recent years, the deviation between the National Standard Time generated and maintained by the NTSC and the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) has remained within two nanoseconds, achieving the highest accuracy internationally. Our contribution to the calculation of the International Atomic Time ranks second globally. The Center maintains a long-standing partnership with the HKO. This time, we will further deepen our co-operation with the Observatory. Through joint timekeeping, fibre-optic time service, data sharing, and other initiatives, we will work together to enhance the accuracy and reliability of time services in Hong Kong, jointly promote the development of integrated atomic time, and further enhance our country's capability to maintain the time standard."
Before the signing ceremony, both sides conducted a high-level meeting to discuss the short-term and long-term plans for collaboration in time service enhancement and the target objectives. The Observatory will deploy reliable equipment and methods to acquire multiple time sources from NTSC to further enhance the reliability and resilience of local time service provision. In addition to the continual participation in the determination of UTC by providing atomic clock time data to the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in France, the Observatory also plans to participate in the Joint Atomic Time System of China to jointly promote the development of integrated atomic time.
Ends/Saturday, September 27, 2025
Issued at HKT 13:15
Issued at HKT 13:15
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