As of May 10, according to the California Department of Motor Vehicles’ website, Didi Chuxing, the Chinese ride-hailing giant, is allowed to test autonomous vehicles in California.
The Chinese are contesting with the U.S. for leadership in autonomous driving. Baidu, the Chinese search giant, received its own permit to test autonomous vehicles in California in 2016; Tencent currently holds its first license to run open-road tests for its autonomous cars on designated areas of Shenzhen; Alibaba, as well, has been conducting self-driving vehicle tests and aims to achieve Level 4 autonomous driving capabilities.
According to a McKinsey report, China is expected to rise as the world’s largest market worth more than US$500 billion for autonomous vehicles and mobility services by 2030.
Source: CNBC