China grants new regulatory permissions for autonomous-driving trials, allowing Volkswagen’s mainland joint venture and EV maker Xpeng to operate higher-level systems on public roads. Xpeng is permitted to conduct “demonstration operations” of its driverless taxi service, known as Yoyo, in Guangzhou/Guangdong province, while Volkswagen receives approval to start Level 3 testing.
Across outlets, the approvals are presented as part of China’s push to scale commercial self-driving deployment after regulatory review of safety. Bloomberg frames the move as a broader push enabled by authorities and mentions it follows a safety assessment. The Next Web emphasizes the technical “level” differences, stating Volkswagen conducts Level 3 road tests in Hefei and Xpeng can run Level 4 robotaxis across Guangzhou.
The South China Morning Post adds geographic specificity, focusing on Xpeng’s demonstration operations in Guangdong and describing the competition with Tesla as the autonomous driving race intensifies. Overall, all three reports agree on the core point: both companies receive approvals to test or operate autonomous vehicles at higher levels in China.
