Autonomous Cars: China's progress with self-driving technology

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Self-driving technology has garnered much attention worldwide. Many consortia and companies around the world are pumping money into the industry, hoping to be the first to master the technology. But how far has this technology come? CGTN's Li Jianhua visited a tech company in the south of China that claims to have seen much progress.

LI JIANHUA GUANGZHOU "Self-driving technology is considered the next big thing, and it is said self-driving cars will replace human drivers in the next three to five years. Can this happen so fast, and what is it like to DRIVE a self-driving car - and now let's hop on and take a spin."

Now I'm in the Level-4 self-driving car, which is the nearly highest according to international standards. All you need to do is tell the car where you wanna go and just let it take over. Now let's hit the road.

See now we're turning right. At this moment, the road is pretty empty, so it's speeding up - now it's around 50 kilometres per hour.

If someone crosses the street at this moment, we will stop. Now we are turning left.

Being able to read the traffic lights accurately, this car can navigate the roads freely, including changing lanes and making stops when other cars cut in AND IT HAPPENS.

Running around two kilometers in a - comparatively speaking - emptier part of Guangzhou, the car took four turns, passed through traffic lights 11 times and changed lanes 6 times all with relative ease.

Using multi-sensor fusion, the car could detect its surroundings fast and accurately.

ZHANG NING GUANGZHOU OFFICE SITE LEAD, PONY.AI CHINA HEADQUARTERS "Our top priority at this moment is safety. It doesn't matter if it's during the simulation, a road tests, or a pilot run. Safety is always our top priority."

And he said the next step will be making sure how the self-driving cars can be manufactured.

Self-driving technology is the future. Many companies in the world are vying against each other to be the first to master this technology. But Uber suspended all testing of its autonomous vehicles after a pedestrian was killed not long ago. Despite the convenience and opportunities it might bring, there are still many concerns. LJH, CGTN, GUANGZHOU.