Shanghai's Lin-gang Special Area is spearheading the development of intelligent connected vehicles (ICVs) by embracing the industry's latest trends, with efforts to strengthen synergy among data, scenarios and industry and establish itself as a leading innovation zone for ICVs.

Companies such as Qiangsheng Taxi, Xiangdao Chuxing, and Youdao Zhitu recently obtained ICV demonstration operation licenses from Shanghai authorities. These licenses cover application scenarios such as Robotaxis and smart heavy trucks, marking the start of a new phase in the scaled commercial operation of ICVs in Shanghai on a regular basis.

To date, the Lin-gang Special Area has opened 245 roads spanning 551.7 kilometers for autonomous driving tests within its 386-square-kilometer industry-city integration area. A total of 20 companies have tested 345 vehicles for road testing, demonstration operations and driverless tests. Licenses for driverless road testing have been issued to 41 vehicles from five companies, with 14 of them also approved for demonstration operations.

The first group of Robotaxis is available to the public in the Lin-gang Special Area on Aug 15. [Photo/Wenhui Daily]

To expedite the overseas expansion of ICVs, the Lin-gang Special Area Administration has released an action plan focusing on cross-border data compliance and comprehensive outbound services. A green channel for data exports has been established, laying the groundwork for international data processing and high-end annotation ecosystems. Lin-gang aims to create an overseas service system for automotive companies, providing institutional support for China's ICVs to go global.

From smart heavy trucks to Robotaxis and dedicated autonomous driving lines, Lin-gang Special Area is breaking boundaries in institutional innovation to become a leader in ICV innovation.