By Greg Gao

The number of China's autonomous driving-related enterprises increase to 5,682 now. In the first half of 2022, there are 201 such companies registered in the country, according to China's corporate information platform Qichacha, JW Insights reported on August 10.

The number of new registrations of autonomous driving-related enterprises in China started the rise ten years ago. As the automotive industry is pivoting sharply to an electrified and more intelligent future, self-driving technology startups now proliferate in China.

In 2019, 1,087 new ones were added, a year-on-year increase of 12.64%. In 2020, the number was 848, a year-on-year decrease of 21.99%. In 2021, 1,130 new self-driving startups were founded, a year-on-year increase of 33.25%, statistics from Qichacha showed.

In terms of regional distribution, Southern China's Guangdong Province ranks first with 1,523 autonomous driving enterprises. Northern China's Hebei Province and Jiangsu in Eastern China have 1020 and 354, respectively, ranking second and third. Regarding registration cities, Shenzhen, a manufacturing hub in Guangdong, ranked first with 1,028. It is followed by Shijiazhuang, Nanjing, and other cities.

On August 8, China’s Ministry of Transport released a guideline to adapt to the development trend of autonomous driving technology, encourage and regulate the application of autonomous driving vehicles, and further ensure the transportation safety of self-driving vehicles. The ultimate goal of the guideline is to promote the commercial application of autonomous vehicles.