Four districts in southern China on Friday formed a pilot framework under which connected cars will be mutually recognised, a mechanism designed to allow autonomous robotaxis to travel across cities.
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The Nansha district of Guangzhou, Shenzhen’s Qianhai and Bao’an districts, as well as Hengqin, an island co-administered by Zhuhai and Macau, agreed to the connected vehicle programme that will “mutually recognise qualifications, open roads … and synergise regulation” to “further connect the Greater Bay Area”, according to a statement from Nansha.
After having registered and been certified in one area, autonomous driving cars can conduct rides on open roads in the other regions, according to a WeChat post from Guangzhou-based self-driving developer Pony.ai, one of the four companies accepted into the pilot.
The company added that the programme would help expand its robotaxi service to airports and railway stations across different cities, and allow its self-driving trucks to operate cross-city cargo trips.
The three other companies that joined the pilot were Baidu’s Apollo Go, ride-hailing platform Chenqi Technology, which also runs robotaxis and is backed by Shenzhen-based Tencent Holdings and Guangzhou-based carmaker GAC Group, and Cowa Robot, a start-up that produces automated cleaning and delivery vehicles, including robotaxis.
The move is part of Beijing’s efforts to coordinate development of the Greater Bay Area, a project launched in 2019 to link some cities in Guangdong province with Hong Kong and Macau.
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Several major Chinese cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, have encouraged testing of self-driving technologies on designated roads, but they each implement their own rules and regulations, and the smart cars cannot travel to neighbouring cities.