The implementation of advanced autonomous driving technology is making progress in China, along with new government policies and infrastructure developments.
Regulation
On 17 November 2023, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, and Ministry of Transport jointly issued a notice regarding pilot work for the admission and on-road operation of intelligent connected vehicles.
It was announced that intelligent connected vehicles equipped with L3 or L4 autonomous driving capabilities, and meeting the conditions for mass production, will be allowed to conduct on-road pilot trials within designated areas after obtaining admission permits. The notice also clarified that operating entities bear responsibility for accidents occurring during autonomous driving.
Subsequently, over 30 cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, issued licenses for L3 autonomous driving road tests to automakers including GAC, BYD, Seres, Changan, IM Motors, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz.
AD deployment
Huawei’s automaker partner Seres has secured L3 autonomous vehicle test licenses in both Chongqing and Shenzhen cities.
The Hongqi-based L4 robotaxi built by the AI development arm of FAW passed its unmanned test license examination in the Beijing High-level Automated Driving Demonstration Area (BJHAD).
BYD has been granted a conditional L3 autonomous driving vehicle testing license in Shenzhen, becoming the first automotive company in China to receive this permit.
Deepal, Changan’s NEV brand, obtained an autonomous driving test permit last November for highways and expressways in Chongqing.
Arcfox, BAIC’s premium EV brand, has been granted an L3 highway autonomous driving testing license in Beijing.
IM Motors’ vehicles with L3 capabilities have received a highway/expressway autonomous driving test license in Shanghai.
Mercedes-Benz quickly became an initial recipient of Beijing’s L3 highway conditional autonomous driving test license.
Dongfeng Sharing has an autonomous driving road test license from Gansu province.
BMW-group has got a license to test their L3 vehicles on highways and expressways in Shanghai.
WeRide’s Robobus autonomous mini-bus started providing passenger journeys from Qingdao Jiaodong airport to the airport food court.
WeRide has also received permission from Singapore’s Land Transport Authority to obtain a Milestone 1 unmanned vehicle public road testing license and a T1 assessment self-driving vehicle public pathway testing license.
China has approved a pilot open-road program for L3 and L4 intelligent connected vehicles. On 17 November 2023, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, and Ministry of Transport jointly released a notice, titled “Notice on Conducting Pilot Program for Intelligent Connected Vehicles”.
Pony.ai and Toyota unveiled a cooperatively-developed electric Robotaxi concept car at 2023 CIIE.
Senior has been granted a commercial vehicle autonomous driving road test license in Tianjin.
TuSimple completed their first round of L4 autonomous truck testing on the Tokyo-Nagoya expressway in Japan.
DiDi Autonomous Driving secured a significant investment from GAC Group.
KargoBot received a notice of permission for road testing their factory-built L4 autonomous freight trucks in the Beijing High-level Automated Driving Demonstration Area.
Pony.ai obtained Shenzhen’s first-ever demonstration application license for unmanned autonomous driving services. They also obtained an autonomous heavy truck demonstration application notice from the Beijing High-level Automated Driving Demonstration Area, in collaboration with Sinotrans.
Baidu’s Robotaxi service Apollo Go got permission to conduct paid unmanned Robotaxi trial service to the public in Beijing.
General Motors China has got an ICV (intelligent connected vehicle) road testing qualification permit in Shanghai, which allows L4 autonomous road testing within the designated demonstration areas.
Utopilot, TuSimple, SAIC AI Lab, and Pegasus were awarded China’s first batch of national autonomous driving test licenses for 15 vehicles in Shanghai’s Lin-Gang Special Area.
DiDi Autonomous Driving signed a strategic cooperation and investment agreement with Valeo.
AutoX has a commercial operation permit to run their fully autonomous robotaxi pilot in Shenzhen. DiDi Autonomous Driving and Aion, GAC’s NEV unit, have launched their cooperative AIDI Plan, a project to develop and mass-produce autonomous new energy vehicles, and they plan to build a joint venture.
