CHINA, like many other countries, is speeding up the development of driverless cars.

In early June, Jiading officially launched China’s first pilot zone for testing such vehicles.

The first phase of the test zone is now in use, focusing on four core areas — safety, efficiency, information and new energy vehicles.

Sensors have been installed throughout the zone, including on the road surface, in lamps, and at traffic lights. A test vehicle can exchange data such as location and driving conditions with other road users to ensure safety.

“The first phase is in operation, which covers an area of 5 kilometers,” said Rong Wenwei, chairman and general manager of Shanghai International Automobile City (Group) Limited.

The closed test zone will have 50 different areas to test vehicles in different scenarios including weather conditions and lighting.

A total of 200 self-driving cars developed by SAIC Motor, Volvo, Ford and Volkswagen are under test in scenarios that include collision alarms, emergency stop warnings, side assist, blind zone alarms and intersection collision alarms.

A 27-kilometer open-road second phase is under construction and expected to be complete by the end of next year. It will feature 36 closed traffic scenarios in a total distance of 73 kilometers. It will be able to provide road tests for 1,000 driverless cars at the same time.

The third phase, which will be completed by 2019, will cover the whole of Anting Town. The area will be expanded to 100 square kilometers by 2020 as a model pilot zone, including expressway sections for 5,000 cars.