China’s Expressways to Go Cashless

At the press conference held by the Information Office of the State Council recently, Li Xiaopeng, minister of transport, revealed that by the end of this year, mobile payments could be made at all the people-managed expressway toll booths across the country.

Li said, so far, people-operated expressway toll lanes in 14 out of the 29 provinces included in the national highway network are covered by mobile payments.

Li also introduced the related work by the Ministry of Transport in the area of driverless vehicles. He said that autonomous driving is a cutting-edge technology, and that the Ministry of Transport attaches great importance to its development and application.

In April 2018, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Ministry of Public Security jointly issued trial measures, allowing road tests of intelligent vehicles. China, for the first time, regulated the road test for autonomous driving at the national level. In July 2018, the Ministry of Transport also issued interim technical guidelines on the construction of closed test sites for autonomous driving. So far, three enclosed sites have been established in Beijing, Chongqing, and Xi’an.