8 Feb 23
News

Chinese city unveils first rules for ‘Internet of Vehicles’

Chinese city unveils first rules for ‘Internet of Vehicles’

The city of Wuxi, near Shanghai, has published that country’s first set of rules for the development of ‘Internet of Vehicles’ (IoV) technologies. IoV technology allows vehicles to communicate with each other and with traffic infrastructure. The move is significant given China’s ambition to become world leader in connected and self-driving vehicles.

Wuxi is an industrial city with an important car-networking and intelligent-driving sector (and hosts one of the world’s tallest Buddha statues – pictured). It is also home to the Jiangsu Internet of Vehicles Pilot Zone, the first national-level pilot zone of its kind in China. However, relevant local regulations to govern the IoV space (also known as V2X, short for vehicle-to-infrastructure) had been largely missing. So the regulation, which will come into effect on 1 March, fills a major regulatory gap.

The new regulations will govern (and encourage) the commercial operation of connected and autonomous vehicles – in a first phase: government-issued connected vehicles including shuttle buses, logistics vehicles and delivery trucks. The data produced by these intelligent vehicles will be used to improve quality and expand use cases. 

As a result, Wuxi will likely become the focal point for China’s efforts to produce a fully functional IoV/V2X ecosystem. This may have huge implications for China, and the wider world. In 2020, the government required half of all new cars to be equipped with vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2X) technology by 2025. A recent report indicated China’s smart vehicle sector was already worth close to $15 billion in 2021 and will double by 2025. 

Want to know more about what connectivity can do for your fleet? Come join Fleet Europe’s Connected Fleets Conference 2023, on 27 and 28 March in Brussels. Click here for more info and to register.

Image: Shutterstock 

Authored by: Frank Jacobs