A driverless Robotaxi test car is pictured during the 2023 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) at Shougang Park in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 5, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua]

A Robotaxi crossed two bridges over the Yangtze River Tuesday morning in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, making the city China's first to operate commercial autonomous ride-hailing services spanning the river.

The driverless taxi service is developed and operated by Baidu's autonomous driving platform Apollo Go.

In 2023, the Wuhan test demonstration zone of intelligent connected vehicles in China alone recorded nearly 500 autonomous vehicles in regular operation, including autonomous taxis and driverless buses. During the period, Wuhan registered over 732,000 orders of travel services by autonomous vehicles, serving 900,000 trips, said local authorities.

So far, China has more than 20 cities which have launched policies supporting autonomous driving tests, with over 60 enterprises having obtained autonomous driving test licenses.