The ever-growing Intelligent Connected Vehicle and Autonomous Vehicle efforts in China
The market for automated driving systems in China is likely to grow rapidly on the back of strong government regulatory support, high levels of investment in research and development, and the rapidly evolving nature of China’s vehicle market. Some analysts have predicted that China will be the largest and fastest-growing market for future transport technology development.
China has taken a number of measures to support the development of its domestic Intelligent Connected Vehicle (ICV) and Autonomous Vehicle (AV) sectors:
- The National ICV Innovation Center has been established to lead ICV development, under the guidance of Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). It will coordinate government, manufacturers and technology suppliers to develop a holistic eco-system for ICV development.
- In 2018, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) drafted a ‘Strategy for Intelligent Vehicle Development’, which was open to the public for comment.
- China has officially established seven national pilot cities for intelligent connected and self-driving cars in Beijing/Hebei, Changchun, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Shanghai, Wuhan and Wuxi.
China’s MIIT played a key role in the drafting of guidelines and policies for the industry, with Beijing’s Haidian and Yizhuang districts nominated as demonstration areas for ICVs. The Haidian testing center (133,000 sqm) has been developed with hundreds of different static and dynamic traffic scenarios that resemble China’s urban and rural road networks, and is equipped with internet and communication facilities for further research and testing of connected vehicles. Enterprises such as BAIC, Baidu, Foton, HiRain Tech and Holomatic have already begun vehicle testing at the Haidian base. An additional facility in Yizhuang (433,000 sqm) is nearing completion.
Mobileye (an Intel Company), Beijing Public Transport Corporation (BPTC) and Beijing Beytai (Beytai) announced in 2019 that they were exploring a collaboration to commercially deploy autonomous public transport services in China.
Beijing and Shenzhen serve as cross-fertilisation partners for the CIVITAS DESTINATIONS project; some of their key measures were the subject of site visits during a DESTINATIONS study trip last year. Overall, the project focuses on the intersection of sustainable mobility and tourism – an area where insights into intelligent and autonomous vehicles may be a game-changer.
Read about the CIVITAS DESTINATIONS trip to China here.
Author: Julia Pérez-Cerezo
