China's first batch of car plates for road tests of connected cars was issued in Shanghai in March 2018, allowing vehicles to conduct open road tests at the National Connected Vehicle Shanghai Pilot Zone or China's first intelligent connected car demonstration area in Shanghai's Jiading district.
To date, the city's 37.2-kilometer-long open road is facilitating a batch of domestic and international automotive manufacturers including SAIC Motor Corp Ltd, the largest auto company in China's A-share market, and Germany's BMW for up to 50,000 kilometers of testing and optimizing their autonomous technologies.
The environment for developing connected vehicles in China is getting better and it is projected to reach a market scale of above 100 billion yuan ($13.96 billion) by 2020, said Miao Wei, minister of industry and information technology, during a recent industrial expo in Beijing.
"China is without doubt the most promising country for development of self-driving vehicles. Nullmax as an autonomous driving technology company looks to improve its solutions through local tests," said Nullmax CEO Xu Lei, adding that Lingang is one of the ideal testing destinations for the Shanghai-based company.
The Shanghai Lingang Autonomous and Informationalized Vehicle Integrative Testing and Demonstration Zone, part of China's first "land, sea and air" self-driving comprehensive testing area for intelligent connected vehicles, is planning to set up a complete industrial chain for connected cars in Lingang, Shanghai.