BEIJING - The annual total output value of China's geomatics industry is estimated to reach 260 billion yuan ($42 billion) by the end of 2013, up 30 percent from last year, a government statement said Wednesday.

The geomatics industry has expanded rapidly in the past several years in China, marked by great technological advances and service expansion, according to the Ministry of Land and Resources.

Citing officials with the National Administration of Surveying, Mapping and Geoinformation, the ministry statement said China's geomatics industry involves more than 23,000 organizations and 400,000 employees.

The statement forecast the sector to grow at an average rate of 20 percent for the next couple of years, with total annual output likely to reach 500 billion yuan by 2015 and 1 trillion yuan by 2020.