CHINESE autonomous driving company WeRide has received approval from the U.S. state of California to test its driverless vehicles with passengers, the Global Times reported.

“The California Public Utilities Commission permit allows WeRide to conduct demo rides for guests who are not WeRide’s employees. It is only for tests and demos, not open to the general public,” said a company representative.

The road tests will help fine-tune the firm’s autonomous driving technology solutions. Conducting tests in the U.S. will provide more reliable and accurate data, paving the way for commercial operations. The approval may also help the company attract potential investment in the U.S., said Zhang Xiang, secretary-general of the International Intelligent Vehicle Engineering Association.

Established in 2017, WeRide provides self-driving products and services from Level-2 to Level-4, catering to use on open roads, including in mobility, logistics, and sanitation industries with services such as Robotaxi, Robobus, Robovan, Robosweeper, and advanced driving solutions. Its investors include GAC Asset Capital, Bosch, Yutong, and Nvidia.

Valued at around US$5.1 billion in November 2022, the Guangzhou-based company has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) in the United States.

Pony.ai and Momenta, two other Chinese self-driving startups, respectively submitted their IPO applications to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the United States in April and June. In May, EV producer Zeekr debuted on the New York Stock Exchange.

Global consulting firm McKinsey & Co has forecast that China will become the world’s largest market for self-driving vehicles, with revenue from such vehicles and mobility services exceeding US$500 billion by 2030, Xinhua reported.

Five ministries, including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Ministry of Transport, jointly issued a notice in July that designates 20 cities or urban agglomerations, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, as pilot areas for the application of intelligent networks integrating vehicles, roads and cloud.(SD-Agencies)