The 2022 China International Fair for Trade in Services will kick off in Beijing on August 31st. We have a series of stories lined up on China's latest developments in various service sectors. To southwest China, the megacity Chongqing has issued permits allowing fully driverless cars to operate as taxis. It's a first-ever in China, and in today's episode, CGTN's reporter Nicole Ng was there to try it out. 

Not smart, not assisted, completely driverless. Chongqing becoming the first city in China to allow what some call "robotaxis" to operate on its streets and collect a fare.

NICOLE NG Chongqing "In most other cities, rules require a safety officer to sit either in the driver's seat or the front passenger seat. But take a look here, it's just me. I've never been in a car that's moving without anybody even close to the steering wheel."

The service isn't available everywhere just yet. It's restricted to a 30 square kilometre range in a quieter part of Chongqing and only operates between 9:30 and 4:30. For internet giant Baidu who was granted the permit, it's come after nearly a decade of testing.

RUAN TINGCHUAN Chongqing City Manager, Baidu Autonomous Driving Regional Operation Department "In the nine years Baidu has been investing in autonomous driving, we've test driven 32 million kilometres. For Baidu, this has been the foundation and the company operates on the principle of safety first so it can meet the challenges of China's complex road conditions."

The company's Apollo Go cars have achieved Level 4 automation meaning they can deal with most driving situations themselves. But though the technology is getting more advanced, there's the issue of consumer trust.

JINGHONG LYU Intelligent Mobility Analyst, BloombergNEP "One of the concerns consumers may have is about safety. And what robotaxi developers should do is to put safety at the first place, to use for example more technology like perception redundancy and vehicle-to-everything technology to ensure safety."

While these self-driving cars mightn't replace our cars anytime soon, the technology may become more widespread in other ways.

JINGHONG LYU Intelligent Mobility Analyst, BloombergNEP "For example, delivery robots, you can already see them in some areas, particularly in universities. And autonomous trucks can operate in a less complex environment than robotaxis in urban areas. And also we have seen some majors like TuSimple, it's aiming to expand its delivery network to more US states in the short term. So that's the two typical applications."

For Baidu, the plan is also expansion to roll out its robotaxis commercially across China.

RUAN TINGCHUAN Chongqing City Manager, Baidu Autonomous Driving Regional Operation Department "The broader strategy is to launch in 65 cities by 2025, and 100 by 2030 to provide this kind of driverless ride-hailing service."

In the meantime, a taste of the not-too-distant future. Nicole Ng, CGTN.