China's autonomous vehicle company WeRide starts driverless testing

WeRide, a Chinese autonomous vehicle startup, said on Friday it has become the first autonomous company to start fully driverless vehicle testing in China, as the world's biggest auto market accelerates development of autonomous technologies. Three-year-old WeRide, backed by Nissan, Renault and Mitsubishi, said in a statement that it started tests on Wednesday on open roads in a designated area of Guangzhou after the southern Chinese city granted permission. In China, companies such as Toyota-backed Pony.ai, Baidu Inc, and Didi Chuxing are also testing autonomous cars, but all with one or two safety staff onboard. The company, led by former Baidu executive Tony Han, also operates a fleet of more than 40 autonomous taxis and 60 test cars.