Secretary for Transport & Logistics Lam Sai-hung concluded a visit to Shenzhen today by test-riding autonomous vehicles (AVs) in the city’s Futian and Nanshan districts as he learned about its AV sector.

Earlier, Mr Lam visited the headquarters of DeepRoute.ai, a technology business that develops and applies advanced AV technologies and is the first company to offer AV demonstrations in Shenzhen’s central business district. In 2021, DeepRoute.ai also collaborated with the Shenzhen Municipal Futian District People’s Government to test and trial autonomous taxis, known as Robotaxis.

Mr Lam also visited the Shenzhen headquarters of Baidu, and was briefed by company representatives on its autonomous driving travel service platform, Apollo Go, and on its intelligent operation monitoring system.

Apollo Go is the world’s largest automated driving travel service provider and operates autonomous taxis in a designated area of Shenzhen sized at 188 sq km. A commercial unmanned autonomous taxi service has also been launched in Pingshan District.

Mr Lam noted that the Mainland is more advanced than Hong Kong in areas such as infrastructure, technological development, pilot testing and the deployment of AV applications. He explained that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has put in place a regulatory framework to accommodate the trial and use of AVs in Hong Kong.

He added that experiencing AV services for himself and gauging the views of service providers on the promotion of such services in Hong Kong would be conducive to promoting the development of AV technology in Hong Kong and aligning the city’s approach with those of major cities on the Mainland and around the world.