The Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization, the Shanghai Municipal Transportation Commission, and the Shanghai Public Security Bureau recently jointly issued the "Shanghai High-Level Autonomous Driving Pioneer Zone 'Model Speed Smart Mobility' Action Plan" (hereinafter referred to as the "Action Plan"). The plan outlines an orderly expansion of open zones for autonomous driving, aiming for full openness across the Pudong New Area while simultaneously promoting the opening of areas such as Fengxian and Minhang. A key focus will be on enabling applications at major hubs including the Hongqiao transportation hub, Pudong Airport, and Walt Disney.
According to the "Action Plan," by 2027, high-level autonomous driving application scenarios are expected to achieve large-scale implementation. Public service platforms will provide robust support for industry innovation, with key technologies and industrial scale reaching internationally leading levels. The goal is to form a globally competitive and influential intelligent connected vehicle industrial cluster, essentially building a world-leading high-level autonomous driving pioneer zone.
The plan calls for exploring innovative business operation models and scaling the application of L4 autonomous driving technology in scenarios like smart buses, smart taxis, and smart heavy trucks. Targets include transporting over 6 million passengers and handling over 800,000 TEUs of cargo. A batch of public service platforms, such as autonomous driving digital twin training grounds, will be established. The total open area for autonomous driving in the city is projected to reach 2,000 square kilometers, with road lengths exceeding 5,000 kilometers, featuring more diverse road types and scenarios to achieve cross-regional connectivity for transportation hubs, industrial parks, and cultural tourism sites. The plan also aims to cultivate industry-leading autonomous driving large language models, have cars with Level 2 and Level 3 automated driving functions account for over 90% of new vehicle production, achieve mass production of L4 vehicles, ensure key technologies are self-sufficient, and establish a complete industrial ecosystem covering vehicles, components, data, maps, security, and services.
To this end, the "Action Plan" proposes nine key tasks across three areas: promoting the construction of diverse application scenarios, accelerating the development of high-level innovation factors, and rapidly fostering an innovative industrial ecosystem.
Specifically, the "Action Plan" proposes that the local authorities explore innovative applications of L3 autonomous vehicles for personal and corporate travel scenarios, gradually expanding their large-scale production and application. It also calls for technological innovation and application of autonomous driving in key scenarios such as the "Five New Cities," airports, and railway stations. Using urban inspection, logistics distribution, and municipal sanitation as entry points, the plan aims to create a batch of innovative, technologically advanced application scenarios for unmanned equipment with clear operational models and strong demonstration effects, exploring operational standards and models for unmanned delivery vehicles, unmanned inspection vehicles, and automated valet parking.
The "Action Plan" specifies the construction of autonomous driving digital twin training grounds. Leveraging leading enterprises and third-party institutions, it aims to create integrated virtual-physical training environments. This involves building full-scenario model training and closed-loop simulation evaluation environments to support the continuous iteration of autonomous driving large models. The plan reiterates the orderly expansion of open autonomous driving zones, gradually extending them based on the advantage of having city-wide scenarios in a megacity. This includes achieving full openness in Pudong New Area, promoting openness in areas like Fengxian and Minhang, and prioritizing the connection of application scenarios like the Hongqiao hub, Pudong Airport, and Walt Disney. Following the principle of serving application scenarios while minimizing impact on existing traffic organization, it will orderly open expressways and urban arterial roads across the city to achieve interconnectivity between relevant regions.
The "Action Plan" mentions organizing efforts to tackle research and development challenges for hardware and software products and technical solutions, including high-performance vehicle chips, vehicle operating systems, intelligent computing platforms, and steer-by-wire systems. It aims to cultivate a group of high-quality enterprises, such as单项冠军 (single-product champions),专精特新"小巨人" (specialized, refined, unique, and innovative "little giants"), and隐形冠军 (hidden champions). Focusing on areas like Pudong, Jiading, and Lingang, the plan seeks to build intelligent connected vehicle and key component industrial bases that are characterized by vehicle-component synergy, distinct features, and leading scale. It supports the construction of test verification platforms like key laboratories for intelligent connected vehicles and traffic safety, promotes the application of technologies and verification tools such as virtual simulation and hardware-in-the-loop simulation, and strengthens the validation and application service capabilities of autonomous driving systems.
Additionally, the "Action Plan" encourages social capital to actively invest in startups within the intelligent connected vehicle and key components sectors. It supports high-quality enterprises in accessing multi-level capital markets and utilizes diversified financing channels to bolster corporate development. The plan also advocates for insurance product innovation, urging the accelerated development of insurance products that are compatible with autonomous driving technological innovation and industrial development.