China’s first commercial license granted for unmanned driving services

China’s first commercial license granted for unmanned driving services

TAIYUAN, Feb. 26.

The city of Yangquan in north China’s Shanxi province over the weekend granted Baidu a license to commercially operate unmanned autonomous driving services – the first license of its kind in China.

It means a safety officer in the driver’s seat of Baidu’s autonomous vehicles, is no longer required. According to Nie Yuren, general manager of Baidu Intelligent Driving Business Group Solutions. The license also allows for fare collection.

Baidu began autonomous driving research and development in 2013. So far, the company has conducted road tests in nearly 30 Chinese cities.

Also on Friday, the fifth Apollo Park, a test base for Baidu’s autonomous driving and related infrastructure systems, opened in Yangquan. It follows Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai, and Wuzhen in Zhejiang province.