BEIJING - The Chinese government donated the world's highest-resolution image database of the Earth's surface to the United Nations (UN) on Tuesday.

The database of 30-meter-resolution images, independently developed by the National Administration of Surveying, Mapping and Geoinformation (NASMG) from 2010 to 2014, will facilitate global natural resources monitoring, analysis of global geographic changes and provide a basis for decision-making on sustainable development.

The United States and the European Union have developed image databases of the Earth's surface at 1,000-meter and 300-meter ratios respectively.

The image database will be held at the UN's New York headquarters. All UN institutions, its member countries and international communities will have free access to use it, according to the NASMG.