The streets of Shenzhen will soon be flooded with unmanned cars. A new law authorizes the transit of robotaxis.
The streets of Shenzhen will soon be flooded with unmanned cars . The metropolis, the heart of China’s technology manufacturing, will lead the advancement of China’s autonomous driving technologies. A new law authorizes Chinese companies to test their self-driving cars.
Pony.ai, Baidu, DeepRoute and AutoX will start their first tests soon. As is the case in the US, these vehicles need a technical operator who can take control of the driving should it be necessary.
Shenzhen thus becomes the first Chinese city to allow the transit of unmanned cars. The metropolis hosts the headquarters of some of the most important Chinese tech giants, including DJI, Huawei and Tencent.
The new law authorizing unmanned car testing will come into effect on August 1st. Robotaxis will not be able to circulate everywhere, but only in some areas established by the authorities.
Previously, the authorities had given some authorizations to robotaxi services to operate in Beijing, the capital. However, these were temporary permits that had to be granted from time to time. Different story in Shenzhen, where ad hoc permits will not be required to be renewed periodically.