(Yicai Global) May 29 -- A unit of telecoms giant Huawei Technologies has secured a license to trial autonomous cars in Hangzhou, six months after Alibaba Group's artificial intelligence lab landed the first permit to test such vehicles in the eastern Chinese city.

Authorities in the provincial capital of Zhejiang named Huawei Enterprises Communications in a recent test approvals document, Zhejiang News reported.

The firm can undertake the tests on some roads in Hangzhou Future Sci-Tech City when the weather allows, the joint work team for Hangzhou's autonomous driving test management said at a forum on interconnected vehicles yesterday.

Both Huawei Enterprises Communications and Alibaba Damo Academy, the e-commerce titan's AI laboratory, are based in Hangzhou.

The cities of Chongqing, Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou have also started issuing licenses to test self-driving vehicles. Other recipients include tech firm Baidu and automakers. 

Editor: William Clegg