29th November 2016 Beijing, China
Witnessing the development of Chinese Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CAV)
Connected and autonomous vehicles (or CAV for short) will bring huge changes to the way we travel, the way we transport goods, and to the quality and safety of travel. It is an area that China is making rapid progress in, as I saw when I attended the launch of the I-VISTA Intelligent Vehicle Integrated Systems Test Area of China on Nov 15th 2016 in Chongqing. This is a milestone for Chinese intelligent transport development, bringing together 4G/5G, LTE-V2X (LTE based vehicle-to-everything communication technology, which enables cars to communicate with anything that may affect them) and Beidou Navigation Positioning technology to create a comprehensive autonomous systems testbed. The test area has 11 types of road and 50 driving scenarios to ensure the communication and operation system can react precisely to a wide range of different scenarios. The site was launched with a demonstration of autonomous cars and trucks performing a synchronised dance routine.
China is making rapid advances in system wide approaches to increase transportation safety and efficiency. This includes integrating autonomous vehicles with knowledge of the wider transport infrastructure to deliver end-to-end optimised mobility.
The establishment of I-VISTA highlights the continued commitment from Chinese government, universities and private sector to enable China to become one of the leading countries for CAV technology. Key stakeholders in I-VISTA include China Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), two of the “Big Four” Chinese automakers (Chang’an, FAW Factory), leading telecommunication companies (China Mobile, China Unicom, Huawei, Datang Telecom), and leading universities (Tshinghua University, Tongji University, Beihang University and Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications).
As the development of CAV technology continues, there are opportunities in China for UK companies and researchers working in the field of high precision data acquisition and positioning, 3D system simulation, data processing and analysis, standardization and virtual testing.
SIN has been continuously supporting UK-China collaboration on intelligent transport and building a platform on joint research in 5G and remote sensing technology. Under the Memorandum of Understanding between NDRC (China’s National Development and Reform Commission) and BEIS regarding collaboration on emerging industries, I look forward promoting the establishment of a UK-China intelligent transport alliance, which will deepen the joint research on 5G, sensing technology and data processing analysis, and will unlock business opportunities for the UK.