Pand Auto, a car-hailing platform for new-energy vehicles, and China's leading search-engine company Baidu announced their arrival at Liangjiang New Area of Chongqing on Jan 21.

Further cooperation between Pand Auto, Baidu and Liangjiang New Area in driverless cars is expected. Pand Auto will provide vehicles and an operation platform for Baidu's Apollo driverless technology application.

Liangjiang will help to select the site for a demonstrative base for shared pilot driving and supply support facilities.

The three parties will deepen cooperation in strategy, product and technology and promote the development of the digital economy industrial park, as well as the development of Chongqing's smart car industry chain.

They will explore business models to promote the development of driverless car technology and products and jointly promote their commercialization.

Pand Auto, which had previously cooperated with Baidu on the launch of a driverless new energy sharing vehicle platform in Beijing and the Silicon Valley, will build its pilot project in Liangjiang in 2018.

Representatives from Pand Auto and Baidu sign a cooperative agreement on Jan 21. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

In recent days, Alibaba also signed a cooperative agreement with Pand Auto regarding a smart management platform. They will cooperate in building an urban intelligent management platform to be used by all industries.

Pand Auto's breakthroughs have caught the eye of industry insiders and outsiders. According to its CEO Gao Yu, "Innovation keeps us ahead of the industry."

Pand Auto, Baidu and Liangjiang New Area will begin cooperation. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The announcement was made after a triple agreement was signed at the opening ceremony of the Liangjiang New Area Digital Economy Industrial Park.

An initial 34 projects were signed at the opening ceremony, with a total investment of 18.32 billion yuan ($2.89 billion). Leading companies in digital economy industries covering big data, environmental protection and IoT are to settle in the park.

The opening ceremony of Liangjiang New Area Digital Economy Industrial Park is held on Jan 21. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]