Hangzhou to promote testing and application of ICVs

Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang province, will open up a total area of 3,474 square kilometers, covering eight urban districts as well as Tonglu county, to be used for the testing and application of intelligent connected vehicles, or ICVs.

The measure was included in a local regulation on the testing and application of IVCs, which will take effect on May 1.

As one of the first pilot cities for the promotion of new energy vehicles in China, Hangzhou first initiated the construction of the ICVs demonstration zone all the way back 2015. It has been approved as a national 5G V2X (vehicle-to-everything) application demonstration area.

After years of efforts, Hangzhou's industrial chain for new energy ICVs has begun to take shape. The newly released regulation specifies the strategic goal of integrating industry, innovation, finance, talent, and policy to drive the development of the new energy ICV industry in Hangzhou.

Over the next three years, the city will focus on establishing a citywide C-V2X (cellular vehicle-to-everything) infrastructure network to realize pilot applications of vehicle-road-cloud integration.

Currently, 16 enterprises have obtained testing and application licenses, with a cumulative safety testing and application mileage exceeding 1.2 million kilometers.

Li Mingsong, deputy director of the Hangzhou bureau of economy and informatization, said that the city aims to attract 1,000 related enterprises in the new energy ICV industry within three years, with an incremental output value surpassing 100 billion yuan ($13.8 billion).