Baidu Apollo extends reach of passenger-carrying self-driving test to Cangzhou

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Chinese search engine giant Baidu has got the first batch of licenses that are specifically issued to companies who carry out passenger-carrying autonomous vehicle road test in China's Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region.

（Photo source: Baidu)

Thirty license plates for such test were given to Baidu at the 2019 China International Digital Economy Expo by local government of Cangzhou, Hebei Province. Baidu Apollo's autonomous driving fleet is to be put into a scale test there at the end of October.

（Photo source: Baidu)

In the meantime, Baidu and Cangzhou government signed a strategic cooperation agreement to co-build the “smart Cangzhou”. Under the partnership, the tech giant and local government will make joint efforts to speed up the integration of such technologies as AI, autonomous driving, cloud computing and big data with local economic and social businesses.

Prior to the latest deal, Baidu has forged partnerships with several significant regions of Hebei Province, such as Xiongan and Baoding, in autonomous driving and AI fields.

(Photo source: Apollo)

In December, 2017, Baidu and the Administrative Committee of Xiongan New Area signed a strategic collaboration agreement to develop the new economic zone into a smart city powered by intelligent transport, the application of conversational AI, and cloud computing infrastructure. Up until now, the Apolong buses, China's first Level 4 autonomous driving mini bus jointly developed by Baidu and King Long, have travelled roughly 11,000 kilometers without accident in Xiongan New Area, offering over 15,000 rides.

China is advancing the passenger-carrying road tests of self-driving vehicles. On September 16, local authorities in Shanghai issued China’s first-of-its-kind licenses plates for intelligent-connected vehicle (ICV) pilot application to SAIC Motor, BMW and Didi. Companies receiving the licenses are allowed to deploy their ICVs on urban roads for pilot application, starting to try some autonomous driving functions with passengers carried on seats.

A few days later, Wuhan, capital of China's Hubei Province, became the world's first city that issued commercial licenses allowing companies to conduct trial operation of passenger-carrying self-driving cars.

The companies, including Baidu, Haylion Technologies and DeepBlue Technology, were granted the licenses from the Wuhan transport authority and were allowed to carry out trials in designated roads spanning 28 kilometers in total.