BAIC Bluepark's premium electric marque Arcfox launched on Saturday the Alpha S HI sedan, the world's first model with Huawei's Harmony operating system and autonomous driving solutions.

The model sports 34 sensors including cameras and radar and Huawei's Kirin chip that has computing power of 400 tera operations per second.

Yu Chengdong, head of Huawei's smart car business unit, said the model features "the world's most sophisticated autonomous driving hardware" among mass-produced vehicles.

Among other things, the model can maneuver itself on expressways and downtown roads, almost as human drivers do, said Yu.

He added the vehicle can improve its driving capabilities as it hits the road and gathers more information about the traffic.

Analysts said the model's rivals will include SAIC's IM L7 and Nio's ET7, both of which have autonomous driving as one of their selling points.

Yu said the Alpha S HI sedan will be available in Huawei's sales network as well besides Arcfox's own showrooms.

Arcfox is expected to have 186 dealerships by the end of this year, up from 86 in 2021.

The brand's sales are expected to reach 40,000 units this year, said Dai Kangwei, president of BAIC Bluepark, in an interview earlier this year.

Dai said the company will launch two sub-compact Arcfox models in 2023, which will further enrich the marque's lineup.

"Now we are launching one model every six months or even less. We can develop more models on this platform," said Dai.

China sold 3.5 million electric cars and plug-in hybrids in 2021, up 160 percent year-on-year, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

The association estimated their deliveries to grow further to reach 5 million this year.