A safety driver monitors a Lexus vehicle equipped with Pony.ai's autonomous driving system as the car drives on a road during a test event, in Beijing, China. — Reuters
BEIJING: China’s capital Beijing passed new regulations on Dec 31 to encourage autonomous driving technology in the city, with authorities planning to eventually allow driverless public buses and taxis.
Autonomous vehicles that pass road testing and safety assessments will be allowed to apply for road trials, the state-backed Beijing Daily newspaper reported, which said the new regulations take effect from April 1.
The city supports the use of autonomous vehicles for private cars, urban buses, trams and taxis, it said, adding that it wants to encourage the construction of intelligent road infrastructure to support such transport.
In a separate notice published on Monday, the central Chinese city of Wuhan also said it had approved regulations to promote the development of intelligent connected vehicles.
Chinese authorities have been aggressively greenlighting trials for self-driving technology with at least 19 cities conducting robotaxi and robobus tests, Reuters reported in August.
Companies with large robotaxi fleets in use in China include Apollo Go, a subsidiary of technology giant Baidu, which plans to deploy 1,000 robotaxis in Wuhan by end-2024.
Pony.ai, which floated in the US market in November, plans to expand its robotaxi fleet nationwide to over 1,000 by 2026 from 250 this year.
Other firms exploring robotaxi opportunities in the world's largest auto market include WeRide, AutoX and SAIC Motor.
US EV giant Tesla also aims to bring full self-driving (FSD) to China in the first quarter of 2025, pending regulatory approval, and has said it will start producing its own robotaxi in 2026.
(Reporting by Qiaoyi Li and Brenda Goh; Editing by Kim Coghill and Sam Holmes)
