The intelligent connected vehicle industry continues to receive favorable policies.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, in conjunction with the Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Natural Resources, Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, and Ministry of Transport, issued the "Notice on the Announcement of the Pilot Cities for the 'Vehicle-Road-Cloud Integration' Application of Intelligent Connected Vehicles" (hereinafter referred to as the "Notice"), which identified 20 cities (consortia) as pilot cities for the "Vehicle-Road-Cloud Integration" application of intelligent connected vehicles.

The cities included in the pilot application are Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, Ordos, Shenyang, Changchun, Nanjing, Suzhou, Wuxi, Hangzhou-Tongxiang-Deqing consortium, Hefei, Fuzhou, Jinan, Wuhan, Shiyan, Changsha, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Haikou-Sanya-Qionghai consortium, and Chengdu.

Miao Changxing, a first-level inspector of the Equipment Industry Department I of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, recently stated at the "11th International Intelligent Connected Vehicle Technology Conference (CICV2024)" that the next step for the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will be to strengthen top-level planning and work coordination, adhere to the development strategy of vehicle-road collaboration, leverage the advantages of the new national system, and take more forceful measures to promote the high-quality development of intelligent connected vehicles.

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Four major expected outcomes are clarified

At present, a total of 17 national-level intelligent connected vehicle test areas, 7 vehicle network pilot areas, and 16 "dual-intelligence" pilot cities have been established nationwide, with over 32,000 kilometers of open test roads, more than 7,700 test licenses issued, test mileage exceeding 120 million kilometers, more than 8,700 sets of intelligent roadside units (RSUs) deployed, and cloud control infrastructure construction carried out in multiple locations.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology stated that the construction of "vehicle-road-cloud integration" in various places is at an initial stage and has not yet been able to build a complete system architecture. There is a phenomenon of "fragmentation" in infrastructure construction, which is difficult to support the large-scale application of autonomous driving technology and networked functions.

The "Notice" clarifies the expected outcomes of the pilot application: first, to build a low-latency, high-reliability connected cloud control infrastructure; second, to promote the large-scale application of autonomous driving in multiple scenarios; third, to explore and form a new type of business model for the investment, construction, and operation of "vehicle-road-cloud integration," which encourages the exploration of multi-subject investment and joint operation development models such as state-owned capital platforms, vehicle companies, operators, and technology companies; and fourth, to form a unified standard and testing evaluation system.

Wang Peng, a researcher at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, stated that after years of development, there are mainly two routes for autonomous driving technology: single-vehicle intelligence and vehicle-road-cloud. Companies like Tesla are in a leading position in single-vehicle intelligence, while vehicle-road-cloud integration integrates the power of vehicles, roadside infrastructure, and the cloud, providing vehicles with more comprehensive and accurate environmental perception and decision-making capabilities. This is regarded as the "Chinese solution" for autonomous driving and is expected to promote autonomous driving technology into a new stage, leading the development direction of global intelligent connected vehicles.

In recent years, the scale of the intelligent connected vehicle industry has rapidly increased. The latest data released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology shows that in 2023, the penetration rate of passenger cars at level L2 reached 47.3%, and it broke through 50% from January to May 2024, with some functions approaching the level L3 intelligent driving capability. At the same time, networked technology is accelerating its penetration. In 2023, the pre-installation volume of 5G and C-V2X (cellular-based vehicle wireless communication technology) exceeded 1.7 million and 300,000 vehicles, respectively.Research by the China Society of Automotive Engineers indicates that by 2025, the value-added of the "vehicle-road-cloud integration" intelligent connected vehicle industry is expected to reach 729.5 billion yuan, and by 2030 it is anticipated to surpass the significant milestone of 2,582.5 billion yuan. This growth trend is closely linked to the continuous support of national policies.

This year, policy efforts have been intensified. In April, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Transport issued a notice on "Supporting and Guiding the Digital Transformation and Upgrading of Highway and Waterway Transportation Infrastructure." It proposed that within about three years, support would be provided for approximately 30 demonstration areas to create a batch of integrated network demonstration channels and networks. The aim is to promote the digital transformation and upgrading of about 85% of busy national expressways, 25% of busy national ordinary roads, and 70% of important national high-grade waterway channels, with subsidies provided for certain proportions of the application projects.

In May, the Ministry of Finance announced arrangements for the issuance of long-term special government bonds, with vehicle-road-cloud integration included in the list of supported projects, allowing local governments to apply for funds from the central government. In June, the National Development and Reform Commission and other departments issued measures on "Creating New Consumer Scenarios and Cultivating New Growth Points in Consumption," mentioning the steady promotion of the commercialization of autonomous driving, the creation of new scenarios for high-level intelligent driving, and the conduct of pilot applications for "vehicle-road-cloud integration" in intelligent vehicles.

Pilot cities are actively advancing the initiative.

The notice clarifies that application pilot cities should, under the guidance of five departments, further optimize and improve the "vehicle-road-cloud integration" construction plan, carry out top-level design and planning, and solidly advance construction tasks according to the pilot work plan. First, the role of the municipal collaborative working mechanism should be fully utilized to form a joint effort in supporting policies, financial investment, construction planning, and safety supervision, and to pragmatically promote implementation. Second, the city-level "vehicle-road-cloud integration" construction and operation entity should be determined, exploring a "build-manage-operate-serve-research" model for the intelligent connected infrastructure throughout its lifecycle, guided by the government and led by the market.

In addition, the provincial-level departments in charge, where the pilot cities are located, should increase policy support for the pilot cities, coordinate the interconnection of roadside infrastructure and city-level cloud control basic platforms within the province, promote the "radiation outward" of the pilot cities and the "piece-to-piece" construction between cities. They should also strengthen the tracking and evaluation of the application pilot work, summarize the progress, experiences, advanced models, and typical cases in a timely manner.

Recently, many vehicle-road-cloud integration demonstration projects have been launched intensively. Beijing has announced plans for a new infrastructure project of nearly 10 billion yuan for vehicle-road-cloud integration, and Wuhan's 17 billion yuan major demonstration project for vehicle-road-cloud integration has been approved and filed by the relevant departments. Hangzhou has created the country's first first-class high-speed rail hub station travel route in the core urban area, becoming the first city in the country to open intelligent connected vehicle travel services for an international airport with a capacity of 40 million passengers.

Several pilot cities have also clarified their development plans for the next stage. Zhang Fen, deputy director of the Changsha Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology, introduced that in the next three years, Changsha will take the 1,200 square kilometers of the urban area as the pilot area, aiming to create standardized and scaled high-value application scenarios and achieve mass production and vehicle integration. Through practice, it will prove the commercial value of the vehicle-road-cloud integration system architecture and build an intelligent connected vehicle industry ecosystem that integrates research and innovation, intelligent manufacturing, testing and inspection, and operation services.

As one of the main areas in Chongqing to carry out the demonstration application of intelligent connected vehicles, Chongqing Science City High-tech Zone is creating the country's first intelligent connected vehicle demonstration area that can empower all types of vehicles. It will take the opportunity of Chongqing's successful selection as a national intelligent connected vehicle "vehicle-road-cloud integration" application pilot city, focus on the field of intelligent connected new energy vehicle industry, accelerate technological innovation and integrated development. In the future, it will also explore the establishment of a municipal intelligent connected vehicle investment, construction, and operation integration platform to coordinate the implementation of pilot projects and industrial development in Chongqing.

Wang Peng stated that with the rapid development of technology, the vehicle-road-cloud system is gradually becoming a reality while facing many challenges. Achieving vehicle-road-cloud integration requires the installation of a large number of sensors, communication equipment, and other high-tech hardware on both sides of the road. The procurement, installation, and maintenance of these devices require substantial investment. This high investment threshold poses a severe test for economic strength, especially in areas where economic development is relatively lagging, and insufficient funds may become a major obstacle to the promotion of vehicle-road-cloud integration.Additionally, the unification of technical standards is also a significant challenge faced by the integration of vehicles, roads, and the cloud. The integration of vehicles, roads, and the cloud requires seamless collaboration between multiple systems, involving the interconnectivity of in-vehicle systems, roadside systems, and cloud platforms. Without unified technical standards, there may be incompatibilities between systems, which can affect the overall performance.

Wang Peng stated that establishing unified technical standards and promoting collaborative efforts along the industry chain is also an important step in achieving the integration of vehicles, roads, and the cloud. The technology of vehicle-road-cloud integration has shown broad application prospects and potential market opportunities in the field of intelligent transportation. However, realizing these opportunities requires overcoming a series of technical, economic, and social challenges. With continuous technological innovation and policy support, the technology of vehicle-road-cloud integration will play an increasingly important role in future intelligent transportation.