The number of autonomous driving license plates in Beijing, Shanghai, and Wuhan has each surpassed 1,000, yet numerous challenges remain in scaling up commercial operations.

Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Wuhan, Chongqing, and other cities are all proactively advancing the commercial operation of autonomous driving—approaching it with both policy support and a cautious yet open-minded institutional framework. Simply open the mobile app and tap "Summon," and an unmanned vehicle will promptly arrive to pick up passengers, delivering them safely to their destinations before departing on its own. Such a futuristic transportation scenario has already become commonplace in Wuhan’s Jiangbei area. Following the issuance of the 1,000th license for autonomous driving testing and application, Wuhan has taken another significant step toward its ambitious goal of becoming the nation’s leading "autonomous driving city." On the afternoon of September 5, during the Forum on Innovation and Application Development of Intelligent Connected Vehicles, Chen Zhuo, General Manager of Baidu Group’s Autonomous Driving Business Division, proudly held up the 1,000th license issued by the National Intelligent Connected Vehicle (Wuhan) Testing Demonstration Zone—dubbed "E-A1000 Trial"—marking Wuhan as the third city after Shanghai and Beijing to surpass the milestone of 1,000 autonomous driving licenses.
Li Zhenyu, Senior Vice President of Baidu Group, stated that high-level autonomous driving is already in real-world operation on complex roads in select cities across China. By 2025, it is expected that L4-level autonomous driving will achieve large-scale commercial deployment in a specific Chinese city, enabling driverless technology to bridge the gap and become commonplace in households. To secure a leading position in the development of smart vehicles, cities like Shanghai, Chongqing, and Wuhan have successively introduced supportive policies, established specialized industrial parks, refined their standardization systems, and actively attracted top-tier companies to set up operations there. Yu Mingyuan, former Director of the Transportation Development Center at the Highway Scientific Research Institute of the Ministry of Transport, noted that currently, more than 30 cities in China permit enterprises to conduct road tests and demonstration operations for autonomous driving. Additionally, 15 cities have already rolled out local regulations governing autonomous vehicle operations. However, challenges remain in terms of national-level legislation for vehicle management and the commercialization of autonomous driving services, making it imperative to address these issues promptly.
Before self-driving vehicles can hit the road, they must first obtain a commercial license for autonomous driving. On September 22, 2019, the Wuhan Demonstration Zone, located in Wuhan Economic Development Zone, was officially unveiled. That same day, three companies—Baidu, Hailiang Technology, and DeepBlue Technology—received the city’s first batch of road transport permits for autonomous vehicles, issued by Wuhan’s transportation authorities. Speaking to a reporter from First Finance, Chen Li, Deputy Director of Wuhan’s Special Task Force on New Energy and Intelligent Connected Vehicles, noted that Wuhan issues test licenses on a "one vehicle, one license" basis. Currently, a total of 19 autonomous driving companies have applied for these licenses. Among them, only Baidu’s “Luobo Kuaipao” and Dongfeng Yueshang hold operational licenses, with their operations strictly confined to designated testing zones. The specific routes are determined through collaboration between the companies and government regulators, taking into account real-time traffic conditions. "From issuing its first commercial license in 2019 to now, Wuhan has already secured 1,000 licenses within just four years—making it one of the fastest-growing regions in the country," Chen Li revealed.

Since launching its fully driverless autonomous driving mobility service in Wuhan in August 2022, Baidu Apollo has seen significant growth in Wuhan, with the number of vehicles, operational area, and population coverage all soaring. Today, the fleet has expanded to 300 fully driverless autonomous vehicles, serving over 4 million residents through its unmanned ride-hailing service—and accumulating more than 340,000 orders in total. Behind these "thinking" vehicles lies a road network brimming with cutting-edge "smart" technology. Over the past four years, the Wuhan demonstration zone has undergone seven rounds of expansion, accumulating a total testing mileage of 1,462.9 kilometers (one-way distance). This has enabled seamless connectivity across multiple districts in Wuhan’s Economic Development Zone, Hanyang District, Qiaokou District, and Dongxihu District, covering an impressive area of approximately 1,100 square kilometers and reaching out to over 4 million people. Currently, more than 340 intelligent connected vehicles are undergoing routine testing and operation within the zone, delivering a combined total of over 330,000 ride-hailing orders and serving more than 420,000 passengers—placing Wuhan firmly among the leaders nationwide in this innovative mobility ecosystem.
On the very day the 1,000th autonomous driving test and application license was issued, Hubei officially established the Wuhan Intelligent Automotive Software Park in Wuhan Economic Development Zone, focusing on four key areas of intelligent automotive software: autonomous driving, smart cockpit systems, automotive-grade chips, and vehicle-to-everything (V2X) connectivity. This move aims to propel China's "Automotive Valley" into a leading hub for intelligent automotive software and automotive-grade chip industries.

According to the recently released "Wuhan Intelligent Automotive Software Park Construction Three-Year Action Plan (2023-2025)," the park is planned to cover an area of 1 square kilometer and will focus on developing core industrial platforms centered around Dongsoft Southern R&D Base, China Electronics Digital Economy Industrial Park, and Chegu Digital Economy Industrial Park. By 2025, the park aims to achieve an annual revenue of 57 billion yuan in the automotive software and chip industries, attract 160 new high-tech enterprises, and bring in approximately 30,000 additional science and technology professionals. Currently, Wuhan Economic Development Zone has attracted nine complete vehicle manufacturers and 13 vehicle assembly plants, with an overall production capacity of 2.5 million vehicles—of which 1.46 million are dedicated to new-energy vehicles—thus establishing a comprehensive industrial layout encompassing "traditional components + three-electric systems + software + chips." "Leveraging software as the soul of the next-generation information technology, software innovation is a critical link in the future development chain of intelligent automobiles," remarked Liu Jiren, Chairman of Dongsoft Group, to a reporter from Caixin. He added that Dongsoft Group plans to establish its Dongsoft Southern R&D Base within the Wuhan Intelligent Automotive Software Park, aiming to complete a 100,000-square-meter industrial facility by 2025 and draw in 1,700 science and technology talents.
It’s not just Wuhan—across the globe, as the automotive industry shifts into the second half of its transformation and upgrade phase, "software-defined vehicles" have become a universal consensus. In the Yangtze River Delta region, one of China’s six major automotive industry clusters, Shanghai International Automobile City’s core area in Jiading District, Shanghai, has been fully upgraded into the Shanghai Smart Automotive Software Park. Jiading District boasts a complete automotive industry chain and is home to China’s first pilot demonstration zone for intelligent connected vehicles, as well as the country’s only international demonstration zone dedicated to electric vehicles. Last year, Jiading’s automotive industry reached a scale exceeding 830 billion yuan, hosting more than 600 companies focused on the "new four transformations" of the automotive sector—namely, connectivity, intelligence, electrification, and sharing—and generating a total output of 164.69 billion yuan in 2022.
In the Chengdu-Chongqing automotive industry cluster, Chongqing is also developing an Automotive Software Park to strengthen and complement the automotive software industry chain. By 2030, the Chongqing Automotive Software Park aims to attract over 6,000 industry-related enterprises and 200,000 software and tech talent, driving an annual output value exceeding 200 billion yuan. According to Zhang Yaqin, Dean of Tsinghua University’s Institute for Intelligent Industry, China is already leading the world in the field of automotive electrification. However, the next phase of intense competition will likely revolve around cutting-edge core software technologies and industrial chains—such as high-level autonomous driving, next-generation intelligent cockpit systems, and automotive-grade chip technologies. As the "crown jewel" of the smart connected vehicle sector, autonomous driving has now transitioned from the testing phase to commercial operations.
Yu Mingyuan noted that, globally, countries such as South Korea, Germany, and the United Arab Emirates have already entered the commercial operation phase of intelligent connected vehicles. In China, more than 30 cities and regions—including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Wuhan, Chongqing, Tianjin, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Qingdao, Hefei, and Xiong'an New Area—have permitted enterprises to conduct autonomous driving road tests and demonstration operations. In April 2021, Baidu launched the nation’s first “autonomous driving bus fare-charging demonstration project” in Yongchuan District, Chongqing. Meanwhile, cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Wuhan, and Chongqing have been steadily advancing the commercialization of autonomous driving through a prudent yet inclusive policy and regulatory framework. "Taking Robtaxi as an example," Yu Mingyuan added, "its current market penetration rate across the entire taxi industry stands at around 3%. However, as policy restrictions continue to ease, Robtaxi’s market share is expected to climb to approximately 22% by around 2027—and could even surpass 50% by 2030."

However, large-scale commercial operation of autonomous driving still faces numerous challenges. Yu Mingyuan pointed out that the current requirements for operational qualifications do not align with the unique characteristics of autonomous driving commercialization. While national documents such as the "Provisional Regulations on Road Testing and Demonstration Application Management of Intelligent Connected Vehicles," the "Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Development and Application of Automated Driving Technologies in Road Traffic," and the "Pilot Program for Leading Applications of Autonomous Driving and Smart Shipping" all allow for the exploration of commercial operations, none explicitly clarify whether and how entities involved in commercial applications need to obtain, what type of, or how to acquire transportation operation licenses. Moreover, the existing "Road Transport Regulations" and "Regulations on Technical Management of Road Transport Vehicles" fail to keep pace with the advancement of autonomous driving, nor do they adequately address the regulatory needs for overseeing the qualifications of safety operators—such as AI-driven "drivers." "Fully driverless vehicles represent the ultimate direction for commercializing autonomous driving, and breakthroughs are urgently needed in the legislative framework governing this technology," said Yu Mingyuan.
Regarding this, Huang Jinjing, head of the Legal Affairs Office at the Ministry of Public Security's Road Traffic Safety Research Center, openly acknowledged that the rise of autonomous driving technology has significantly increased the difficulty of revising and formulating relevant laws and regulations, including the Road Traffic Safety Law. Specifically, the legal obligations of various parties involved under new driving modes remain unclear; a systematic framework for handling violations and accidents involving autonomous vehicles has yet to be established; the mechanisms for holding accountable those responsible for incidents related to autonomous driving are still not well-defined; and integrating autonomous vehicles into the existing road traffic safety management system continues to face certain challenges. These issues collectively pose significant hurdles for future legislative management, safety oversight, and practical operations.
Huang Jinjing proposed breakthroughs for China's autonomous driving legislation from five key perspectives. First, conduct rigorous inspections of the safety and compliance with traffic regulations for autonomous driving systems during the vehicle approval process, and clearly define procedures for handling updates to the system versions. Second, specify the capabilities, configurations, and management requirements for the three-tier platforms—central government, local governments, and user entities—and outline clear criteria for suspending or withdrawing pilot programs. Third, address how to handle violations and traffic accidents by establishing a new enforcement framework tailored to scenarios where "no human is present in the vehicle." Additionally, determine whether simplified procedures can be applied in the event of an accident, and clarify whether traffic police should impound only the specific vehicle involved or all vehicles of the same model type—these are critical legislative issues that need to be resolved.
Additionally, it is crucial to ensure that the outcomes from local pilot programs align seamlessly with the nationwide policies governing autonomous vehicles. Currently, more than 15 cities across China—including Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Wuhan—have introduced detailed regulations for driverless autonomous driving. Notably, Shanghai’s Pudong New Area and Shenzhen have even leveraged their special legislative powers to achieve significant breakthroughs. "To be honest," Huang Jinjing bluntly stated, "after such a long period of diverse approaches, it’s time for us to adopt the best possible middle ground." Regarding automated delivery vehicles, Huang believes that authorities must clarify their legal status—whether they should be classified as motorized vehicles, non-motorized vehicles, or even robots—and subsequently establish clear application guidelines, including product approval processes, regulations for handling violations and accidents, and mechanisms for orderly market withdrawal.

Translated from Sina Auto

Email:
info@adtfm.com

Phone:
021-20532053

Address:
2nd Floor, No. 150 Jindian Road, Pudong New Area, Shanghai