China will use its homegrown Beidou satellite navigation system to track civilian flights, in an attempt to avoid mysterious disasters like the crash of Malaysian MH370.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said the Beidou satellite navigation system (BDS) will be tested on general aviation first before it is used to monitor passenger or cargo flights.

The BDS, which boasts navigation, positioning and short message services, is able to trace aircrafts and aid search and rescue operations.

"We will first collect data and gather experience in general aviation and then gradually apply the BDS to transport aviation," Wu Chengchang, safety chief of the CAAC said.

Wu said this at a recent seminar on BDS application in civil aviation, the state-run Xinhua agency reported today.

China launched the first BDS satellite in 2000 to provide an alternative to foreign navigation systems. The country aimed to launch a total of 35 such orbiters and complete the global network by 2020.

The BDS services currently cover the Asia Pacific and will be expanded to the whole globe by its completion.

Despite a multi-nation search, authorities have so far failed to find the vanished Boeing 777 Malaysia Airlines plane which is believed to have crashed in the Indian Ocean on March 8 last year with 239 people aboard.