Driverless robotaxi services were launched in designated areas of Shanghai's Pudong New Area as the district's first batches of licenses for the commercialization of autonomous driving were issued on Saturday at the sixth World Artificial Intelligence Conference.

During a ceremony held at an intelligent driving forum of the WAIC, Baidu's Apollo, AutoX and Pony.ai were among the first to obtain permits from the Pudong government for driverless intelligent connected vehicles' road tests.

With the special licenses, they are allowed to offer driverless robotaxi services on specified open roads in the district.

The fact that Shanghai's legislature was authorized to create laws specific to Pudong New Area in accordance with its needs for reform and innovation has laid the foundation for the district's commercialization for autonomous driving.

"Being an important city of China's automobile industry and a highland for AI development, Shanghai has always focused on strengthening the layout of its industrial chain, giving full play of various application scenarios, working on supporting policies, and exploring integrated application throughout the sector, so as to seize the development opportunities that appear in intelligent and connected vehicles and create a highland for the intelligent connected vehicle development," said Tang Wenkan, deputy director of Shanghai Commission of Economy and Informatization.