Waymo enters China as nation accelerates self-driving car push

Waymo, a company born from Google’s self-driving car project, has set up a subsidiary in Shanghai’s free-trade zone, according to official filings. The business, called Huimo Business Consulting (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., will cover design and testing of autonomous car parts and products, as well as various consulting services. Kevin Vosen, Waymo’s general counsel, is listed as legal representative.

The move places Waymo right in the center of a heated race in China, where tech titans like Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent are competing with young startups to put driverless cars on the road. But Waymo already has a comfortable lead: Navigant Research’s latest self-driving scorecard puts it at second in the world, while no Chinese firms made even the top ten.

In the last year or so, China has made a major push into autonomous cars, according to the China Internet Report 2018. The country declared smart cars a national priority and issued nationwide guidelines for self-driving vehicles -- giving local authorities a freer hand to approve road tests. Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, among others, have all taken advantage of the new rules.

Meanwhile in the US, legislative efforts to speed up the testing of driverless cars have run into a number of roadblocks. Despite protests from automakers, a bill that would give these vehicles an exemption from old safety rules has stalled -- as deadly accidents bolstered safety concerns.