By The Straits Times | Created at 2026-07-23 10:26:40 | Updated at 2026-08-02 23:22:48
1 week ago
BEIJING – China has started issuing robotaxi permits again after a high-profile incident involving self-driving vehicles led the authorities to suspend new licences in April, according to people familiar with the matter.
The resumption is occurring gradually in some cities following the completion of an industrywide review in late June, the people said, declining to be identified as they were not authorised to speak to the media.
Regulators had called for a full safety review of the industry in the wake of a sudden outage of more than 100 Baidu robotaxis in the central megacity of Wuhan, Bloomberg reported earlier in 2026.
Baidu shares rose 2.3 per cent to close at HK$106.80 in Hong Kong on July 23, while rivals Pony AI climbed 5.4 per cent and WeRide advanced 1.6 per cent.
The move paves the way for burgeoning robotaxi companies to put the episode behind them and get back on their growth trajectories.
It also indicates that the government is putting cutting-edge technologies back at the forefront of its priorities as China competes against the US for leadership of a strategic industry that is poised to shape the future of transportation.
One of the first permits went to Momenta Global so the company can run trials in the southern metropolis of Shenzhen.
The local government there amended its connected vehicle regulation to explore opening up the entire city for robotaxis and lowered barriers to entry. Shares of the Chinese company jumped this week after it announced it got a licence.
There are also signs that Baidu’s operations in Wuhan – where hundreds of robotaxis were pulled off the streets because of the safety review – may be resuming.
Residents have posted videos and photos on Chinese social media of Baidu’s Apollo Go driverless cabs driving on the streets again, some with safety drivers inside, since early July.
Neither the government nor Baidu has publicly disclosed details of the cause of the Wuhan robotaxi outage in March, which triggered the halt in licences.
Baidu and rival robotaxi company Pony AI did not respond to requests for comments. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, which oversees the sector, did not respond to faxed questions.
WeRide, another Chinese robotaxi firm, said it welcomed a clear, stable and predictable regulatory environment that supports the responsible development of autonomous driving technologies.
WeRide will continue to work closely with regulators and industry stakeholders to advance innovation responsibly, it said.
Meanwhile, Beijing is working on drafting rules for high-level autonomous driving to ensure the safety and quality of the vehicles, as well as their AI technology.
Elsewhere, China’s Baidu, Pony AI and WeRide are competing against Alphabet Waymo to deploy robotaxis to the rest of the world.
The Chinese players are boosted by low costs and fast production from a mature electric vehicle supply chain. BLOOMBERG
