China boosts autonomous driving with expanding test zones, policy support

BEIJING, June 20 (Xinhua) -- In Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, also known as Beijing E-Town, drivers and pedestrians have grown increasingly accustomed to driverless robotaxis.

But autonomous technology isn't just limited to ride-hailing in the area. Driverless sanitation vehicles now sweep the streets along pre-programmed routes, while autonomous minibuses shuttle back and forth along tree-lined avenues.

This futuristic reality can be traced back to September 2020, when the Chinese capital launched the world's first high-level autonomous driving demonstration zone.

Since then, the city has completed the intelligent deployment of roadside infrastructure across 600 square kilometers and plans to expand the demonstration zone to approximately 3,000 square kilometers between the fourth and sixth ring roads.

To date, the demonstration zone has issued road test permits to 33 companies, covering some 900 vehicles with a combined autonomous driving test mileage of over 32 million kilometers, accounting for over a quarter of the total national autonomous test mileage.

Autonomous driving has become a key area in China's push to integrate digital technologies with the real economy. As pilot projects expand, cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen are advancing multi-scenario applications, from ride-hailing and logistics to public transit and street cleaning.

Beijing, home to leading companies in the field, including Baidu, Pony.ai and Neolix, is forging the road ahead with both regulation and deployment. In April, a new local regulation on autonomous vehicles took effect, providing a clear regulatory framework for autonomous vehicles equipped with Level 3 and higher systems.

Shanghai and Shenzhen are also accelerating development. Shanghai recently expanded its autonomous driving test roads to more than 750 kilometers, while Shenzhen has rolled out AI-powered buses on several urban routes. Backed by dedicated legislation and cutting-edge vehicle-road coordination systems, both cities are rapidly scaling their smart mobility ecosystems.

At a modern distribution facility in the E-Town operated by autonomous driving vehicle producer Neolix, a fleet of autonomous delivery vehicles glides in one after another.

Inside the sleek white building, each vehicle halts precisely beneath a massive overhead conveyor belt.

As the vehicles open their lids automatically, parcels slide down from the second floor, neatly filling each compartment. Once loaded, the lids close, and the vehicles quietly roll out, ready for dispatch.

Powered by an intelligent backend scheduling system, the factory can coordinate hundreds of autonomous delivery vehicles with various sorting lanes, achieving precise and efficient package matching.

"Our autonomous vehicles are primarily operating regularly in Beijing's Shunyi District and E-town. Overall, we can help courier companies reduce logistics costs by around 50 percent while improving delivery efficiency by roughly 30 percent," said Yang Zhe, the co-founder of Neolix.

"Our vehicle is equipped with 12 cameras and a LiDAR, enabling full 360-degree perception with no blind spots," Yang added. "When the system detects an obstacle, it locks onto the object, calculates its size and distance, and then decides whether to continue forward or take an alternate route."

By the end of August 2024, Chinese public security authorities had issued 16,000 test licenses for autonomous vehicles, with some 32,000 kilometers of roads nationwide opened for autonomous vehicle testing, according to the Ministry of Public Security.

As intelligent vehicle technology advances rapidly, safety has become a core industry challenge. From data privacy to AI misjudgments in autonomous driving, experts stress the need for clearer safety boundaries as AI plays a deeper role in the sector.

"As AI reaches a certain stage of development, it is essential to address deeper issues spanning industry, technology, safety, as well as social, legal, and ethical dimensions," said Su Linke, an executive from the new energy vehicle brand Deepal.

Finding ways for AI to serve both vehicles and people better and to help foster more harmonious social relationships should be a shared priority in advancing the industry, Su added. ■