The Chinese government is planning to set up a national standard for driverless technology to better regulate the growing industry.
A set of technological specifications for driverless technology is currently being formulated, an anonymous official with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said at a seminar in Shanghai on Tuesday.
The Society of Automotive Engineers of China (SAE-China) is also close to finishing a national auto-intelligence network technology roadmap, which will be made public soon, thepaper.cn reported.
Meanwhile, Shanghai's Jiading district has become China's first pilot zone for testing the guidelines after MIIT's approval. The first phase of testing began on Tuesday. It offers a test field for self-driving cars, according to the report from thepaper.cn.
The test zone currently covers an area of 5 square kilometers, and a second and third phase of construction, to be completed by 2020, will expand the pilot zone to cover some 100 square kilometers of Jiading. More roads in the area will also be open for testing during the second and third phase.
Employees told thepaper.cn that the testing zone can simulate all kinds of traffic conditions, including collisions, road construction and speeding.
"China should actively participate in the setting of international standards and regulations in order to promote smart car development. The pilot zone in Shanghai will provide a better testing and demonstration environment to promote the regulation of self-driving cars," said Fu Yuwu, a board chairman of SAE-China, at the seminar.
