Southern China launches cross-city Robotaxi pilot as part of Greater Bay area development

In a groundbreaking move for autonomous vehicle development, four districts in southern China have launched a pilot program to enable robotaxis to travel across cities within the Greater Bay Area.

The districts—Nansha in Guangzhou, Qianhai and Bao’an in Shenzhen, and Hengqin, a region jointly managed by Zhuhai and Macau—have formed a connected vehicle framework aimed at fostering seamless cross-city travel for self-driving cars, Caliber.Az reports per Chinese media.

Under the new initiative, which was announced on December 27, the participating districts will “mutually recognise qualifications, open roads … and synergise regulation” to further integrate the Greater Bay Area, according to a statement from Nansha. The framework will allow autonomous vehicles that have been registered and certified in one district to operate on public roads in the other regions.

The pilot is expected to expand the scope of robotaxi services, including access to airports and railway stations in different cities. Pony.ai, a Guangzhou-based self-driving developer and one of the four companies included in the program, highlighted that the initiative will also enable its autonomous trucks to operate cross-city cargo trips.

The other companies involved in the pilot are Baidu’s Apollo Go, Chenqi Technology (a ride-hailing platform backed by Tencent Holdings and Guangzhou’s GAC Group), and Cowa Robot, a start-up focused on automated cleaning and delivery vehicles, including robotaxis.

The connected vehicle program is part of China’s broader efforts to accelerate the development of the Greater Bay Area, a project initiated in 2019 to strengthen economic and technological ties between Guangdong Province, Hong Kong, and Macau.

While several major Chinese cities, such as Beijing and Shanghai, have been testing autonomous vehicle technologies, each city has its own set of regulations, preventing self-driving cars from traveling between them. The new framework for the Greater Bay Area, however, aims to unify these regulations and facilitate smoother travel across multiple cities. The initiative is also expected to expand “gradually to Hong Kong and Macau,” Pony.ai said.

In a related development, Baidu applied in October to launch autonomous vehicle trials at Hong Kong’s airport, planning tests on designated roads on Lantau Island with a backup driver in place for safety.

By Vafa Guliyeva