China's auto industry regulator warned automakers in July against conducting public highway trials before the country releases regulations, as many companies and individuals conducted road tests in the country.
The country released on Oct 26 its blueprint for intelligent and connected vehicle development to guide and standardize the burgeoning sector and help local car makers and related companies progress speedily.
The term "intelligent and connected vehicle" used in the Chinese industrial blueprint is equivalent to Europe's autonomous driving vehicles or the U.S.' automated vehicles.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology expects those with semi-autonomous functions, such as driving assistance and autonomous parking, to account for 50 percent of cars by 2020.
Fu Yuwu, president of the Society of Automotive Engineers of China, told China Daily: "The Chinese auto industry is learning intelligence and connectivity technologies from scratch, and demanding specialty support. An alliance, formed by almost every related company, is developing industrial standardization."
According to the ministry's roadmap, China will aim for 10 to 20 percent of vehicles to be highly autonomous by 2025, with 10 percent of cars to be fully autonomous in 2030.
"The transformation during the next 10 years in the automotive industry may overtake that of the past five decades," said Wang Xia, chairman of the automotive committee of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade.
He said: "The connected intelligence technologies have been developing much faster than people's expectations. The cars are becoming more and more powerful, and autonomous driving vehicles are now a reality ... intelligence, connection and electrification have evolved to be a clear trend."
The automotive industry is experiencing radical innovation and internet giants are making inroads into the automotive industry. For instance, Baidu Inc is working on autonomous driving, Alibaba Group is joining hands with SAIC Motor Corp Ltd to produce internet-based cars, and Tencent Holdings Ltd is partnering with Foxconn Technology Group to produce electric, connected cars.
Marco Fischer, director of automotive and customer practice at PwC China's Experience Center, said: "The challenge remains for the auto industry to adopt the right mix of technology that is fit for China's driving conditions and moves toward dominating the global share of intelligent connected cars."
MIIT has progressively participated in the related global regulations and standards being established through the United Nations Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations. And, the Automotive Branch of the China Standardization Association and related ministries have held international forums to discuss the standards and regulations on intelligent connected vehicle technology this year and last year.
Experts recognize that the systems in mass products currently on the market are far from truly autonomous driving.
Jia Xinguang, a seasoned auto analyst in Beijing, said that the piloted driving or autopilot systems are not even close to real autonomous driving technologies, which require heavy investment in radars, lidars, sensors, maps and more.
"Automated driving is still in its infancy. Those found in mass products ar
