Beijing's Haidian District, the capital's tech hub, is seeking to expand its lead in self-driving vehicles with a plan to create more spaces for tests.

The district will build a demonstration area with 100 square kilometers for self-driving vehicles, said Dai Binbin, head of the Haidian District Government.

The demonstration area is part of an action plan issued by the district government to spur the development and innovation of driverless vehicles and intelligent connected vehicles (ICVs).

The area will be a place to develop ICVs and smart transportation through featuring multiple scenarios, cloud management, simulated tests and data support, said Dai.

Companies and researchers will be able to test technologies in commuting, logistics and delivery, and road cleaning, he said.

Haidian District seeks to step up international cooperation in the industry and plans to host a high-level competition of driverless vehicles, Dai said.

China allows local governments to arrange road tests for ICVs, which cover different degrees of autonomous driving.

In March 2018, Beijing earmarked 33 roads with a total length of 105 km for autonomous car testing in Yizhuang, Shunyi and Haidian, all of which are outside the Fifth Ring Road and away from densely-populated areas.

During the past year, Beijing granted road testing licenses to eight automakers, including Baidu, NIO, BAIC, Pony.ai, Tencent, Didi, Daimler and Audi.

According to a government plan, test spaces for ICVs in the capital are expected to reach 500 sq km by 2022, and a total of 2,000 km of roads will also be open for testing.

Many Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Chongqing, have issued car plates for road tests of ICVs.

Haidian is home to the Zhongguancun Science Park, dubbed the capital's tech hub. Baidu, a leading firm in the development of self-driving vehicles, is headquarterd in Haidian.

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