A police officer shows the traffic robot police to the audience in Handan, North China's Hebei Province, on Wednesday. Photo: IC

China's first batch of traffic robot police started working in Handan, North China's Hebei Province on Wednesday, with multiple functions including road patrols and accident warning that represent the development of China's artificial intelligence traffic management. 

The Handan Public Security Bureau announced the use of three types of traffic robot police in a ceremony on Wednesday. The robots were developed using big data, artificial intelligence, cloud computing and laser-based navigation. 

The road patrol robot, which resembles a traffic police officer in a yellow uniform and white hat, can identify drivers and take photos of drivers' illegal behavior through its automatic navigation system, and remind jaywalkers in Putonghua, according to the Handan police's Weibo account. 

The advice traffic robot works in vehicle management stations, and is capable of answering questions, guiding residents to counters and automatically reporting security risks and suspects to police.  

The accident warning robot can remind passing vehicles when police are dealing with traffic accidents. 

Li Huai, an official at the Handan Public Security Bureau, said the robots will have more functions on vehicle management and traffic management, and will be on duty 24/7, news site hebnews.cn reported on Wednesday. 

In recent years, more high-tech innovations have been applied in the police's daily work in China. 

During this year's Spring Festival travel rush, police in many cities adopted facial recognition and robots to check tickets, search for missing people and provide passengers with safety advice.

In April, China's first 5G police station, which features cutting-edge technology such as AR glass and patrol drones, was unveiled in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province.