An autonomous vehicle undergoes road testing at an autonomous driving demonstration area in Yizhuang in Beijing, capital of China, June 19, 2024. (Photo: Xinhua)

Beijing plans to significantly expand its high-level autonomous driving demonstration area to approximately 3,000 square kilometers between the fourth and sixth ring roads, more than double the size of the city's six urban districts, an official said on Friday.

Since the launch of China's first high-level autonomous driving demonstration zone in September 2020, the city has successfully developed intelligent infrastructure across 600 square kilometers, said Wang Lei, director of the Beijing High-level Autonomous Driving Demonstration Zone Work Office, during the 2024 World Intelligent Connected Vehicles Conference.

The expansion is part of the Chinese capital's efforts to position itself at the forefront of autonomous driving technology development.

The demonstration zone has issued road test permits to 33 companies, covering nearly 900 vehicles with a combined autonomous driving test mileage of over 32 million kilometers, accounting for more than a quarter of the total national autonomous test mileage.

Major companies such as Baidu, Pony.ai and JD.com are among those participating in the project, piloting various autonomous applications, including passenger vehicles, unmanned deliveries and autonomous patrol services.

The demonstration zone will continue to expand in both scale and the diversity of application scenarios, Wang said.

Beijing is also working on new legislation to regulate the burgeoning autonomous driving sector.

Driven by advanced technology, supportive regulations and strong investor enthusiasm, the autonomous driving industry is rapidly moving toward large-scale commercial use, with China revving up efforts to foster tech-intensive new growth engines.

By the end of August, Chinese public security authorities had issued 16,000 test licenses for autonomous vehicles, with some 32,000 kilometers of roads nationwide opened for autonomous vehicle testing, according to the Ministry of Public Security.

Global consulting firm McKinsey & Company projects that China will become the world's largest market for self-driving vehicles, with revenue from such vehicles and mobility services exceeding 500 billion U.S. dollars by 2030.