China's ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing plans to operate more than 1 million self-driving cars through its platform by 2030, Meng Xing, chief operating officer of Didi Chuxing's autonomous driving unit, said today.

According to Reuters, Meng Xing said Didi Chuxing is developing automated driving technology and plans to deploy so-called "robot taxis" in areas where there is a shortage in the supply of ride-hailing services.

Didi Chuxing had announced last August that it was upgrading its automated driving division to an independent company to focus on automated driving research and development, product applications and related business development.

Last month, Didi Chuxing's automated driving division closed over $500 million in funding lled by SoftBank Group's Vision Fund 2. With the funding, Didi Chuxing will expand its automated driving, vehicle-road collaboration, and related AI technologies. Inputs.

Didi will also further deepen its cooperation with the automotive upstream and downstream industries to speed up the process of automated driving mass production and drive a revolution in the global automotive and transportation industries.

Didi Chuxing said last year that it would start using self-driving cars to pick up and drop off passengers in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen this year, then expand the program beyond China in 2021.

While some industry insiders say it will take time for the public to fully trust self-driving cars, Meng Xing says Didi Chuxing's plan is to expand the program beyond China by 2021. But Meng Xing said Didi Chuxing expects self-driving cars to be available in 2025. The company is currently working with BAIC to develop an automated vehicle. Didi Chuxing is currently working with China's BAIC Group to develop an autonomous vehicle.