In Beijing's Yizhuang district, driverless vehicles are now common. Robotaxis move through traffic with other cars. Autonomousautonomous/ɔːˈtɒnəməs/L2自动的，自主的（指机器或车辆无需人工控制）able to operate or make decisions without direct human control delivery vans carry packages to collection points. This area is one of China's testing grounds for self-driving technology. Companies like Baidu, WeRide, and Pony.ai offer paid robotaxi services there.
Booking a robotaxi is easy. You open an app, and a car arrives without a driver. After you confirm the trip on a touchscreen, the vehicle enters Beijing's busy streets. It moves around buses, bikes, scooters, and people. The technology is still improving. However, a bigger question remains: can China turn robotaxis into a global success like electric vehicles?
Chinese companies have an advantage. They use the same supply chains for batteries, sensors, and chips as electric cars. This helps them develop technology faster and at lower cost. "What you see is a pace of innovationinnovation/ˌɪnəˈveɪʃn/L2创新；革新a new idea, method, or product that improves something that I don't think is matched anywhere else," says Kyle Chan, a policy expert. Government programs also allow tests on public roads. In addition, China's complexcomplex/ˈkɒmpleks/L2复杂的，难懂的（由许多不同部分构成，不易理解）made of many different parts and difficult to understand or deal with traffic gives companies lots of data to improve their software.
Chinese robotaxi companies are expanding quickly. Their main competitor is Waymo in the US. However, Chinese firms face challengeschallenges/ˈtʃælɪndʒɪz/L2挑战，难题（需要努力克服的困难）difficult situations or problems that require effort to overcome abroad. Extreme weather like heat, rain, and snow can hurt battery performance and sensors. Safety is also a concern. Earlier this year, Baidu's robotaxis had a software problem that left 100 cars stuck. Some passengers could not leave because the doors locked. As a result, services stopped for several weeks. Despite these problems, companies believe regulatorsregulators/ˈreɡjuleɪtəz/L2监管机构，管理者（负责制定和执行规则的官方机构）government organizations that make and enforce rules for industries are becoming more open to self-driving cars.
