BEIJING - Pony.ai, a self-driving start-up in the southern city of Guangzhou, has become the first entity of its kind in China to receive a taxi license.

Beginning in May, the license allows the company to operate 100 autonomous vehicles as taxis in the city's Nansha district over an area of more than 800 square km, the company said.

It also has plans in the works to launch similar services in two other large Chinese cities next year.

In late 2021, the start-up was authorized to launch commercial trials of its autonomous vehicles in Beijing. Along with Chinese tech giant Baidu, it was among the first companies nationwide permitted to launch such pilot services.