China’s robotaxi services an important first step in building smart transportation, says Chinese ministry
- Chinese self-driving companies such as Baidu, Didi Chuxing, WeRide and AutoX have all launched robotaxi services in different cities
- Autonomous driving and V2X expected to be part of China’s 14th five-year plan which will outline the country’s long-term objectives through to 2035
China’s transport ministry backed autonomous driving as an essential part in building a nationwide smart transport system and said it encourages cities and companies to roll out pilot programmes including robotaxis and V2X (vehicle-to-everything) systems.
“We support cities and autonomous driving companies to accelerate the development and application of autonomous driving technology under the premise of ensuring safety,” Wu Chungeng, policy research director at the Chinese Ministry of Transport, said at a press conference on Wednesday.
“We supported Beijing, Shanghai and Hebei in carrying out pilot projects on smart transportation such as autonomous driving and vehicle-to-everything,” Wu said, referring to the V2X vehicular communication system that supports high speed transfer of data between cars and subsystems in the traffic ecosystem.
Wu said the transport ministry and the Ministry of Science and Technology were cooperating to identify research and development tasks required for autonomous driving and V2X as part of deliberations ahead of China’s 14th five-year plan which will outline the country’s long-term objectives through to 2035.
The ministry’s backing comes as the promise of a driverless future has attracted billions of dollars of investment globally, making it one of the key sectors in the field of artificial intelligence, an industry where both China and the US are seeking supremacy.
In May Chinese transport minister Li Xiaopeng said autonomous driving would usher in new business models for the transport industry, reducing traffic pollution and increasing commute efficiency.