Li Xiaopeng, the head of China’s Ministry of Transport (MOT), paid a special visit to the Land Transport Experiment Center located in Tongzhou, Beijing on December 6, 2016. During his visit, he showed keen interest in Yutong driverless bus and took a ride with the vehicle.

With a speed of 40 kilometers per hour, Yutong driverless bus drove around the vehicle experiment track which is measured 2.02 kilometers in length. While in operation, the vehicle has skillfully demonstrated its unusual agility in operating on the scheduled routes, changing lanes and stopping at designated points. While on the bus, Li made detailed inquiries about the specifications and the key spare parts of the vehicle.

While expressing his satisfaction over Yutong’s impressive achievements in recent years, Li also points out that the fast and sound development of China’s transport sector will lay a solid foundation for continued robust growth of the nation’s economy. Nowadays, technological innovation plays an increasingly important role in upgrading and transforming the transport industry. Against such a backdrop, Li urges all enterprises involved in the transport industry to play a more active role in pushing forward the overall growth of the sector and creating new business opportunities.

Driverless vehicles, also known as self-driving vehicles, were first introduced by Google, the well renowned search engine. In recent years, a number of automakers in China have joined the efforts to develop such vehicles. Yutong, as the leading bus maker in China, has also shown a keen interest in this promising industry. Li Deyi, an academician from China’s Academy of Engineering, also joined Yutong in developing driverless driving technologies.

Yutong’s first driverless bus, also the first one in the world, made its appearance to the public on August 29, 2015. It successfully completed a trial operation without any human assistance. What is worth noting is that the bus drove 32.6 kilometers on Zhengzhou-Kaifeng Avenue in Zhengzhou with a maximum speed of 68 kilometers per hour. During the journey, the bus passed 26 traffic lights without a glitch, masterfully dealing with a host of complex situations on the road.