(Yicai Global) Sep. 3 -- China's Wuhan will this year form the country's largest self-driving pilot zone, based on fifth-generation wireless networks and supporting cooperative vehicle infrastructure systems.

The central Chinese city will build 78 kilometers of open road for the purpose, following its 28-km test road built last September, Hubei Daily reported today. The stretch supports China's homegrown Beidou Navigation Satellite System with its 33 5G base stations.

In August 2019, Hubei province announced its plan to build the area. Next month, Wuhan's municipal transportation bureau issued the first batch of related licenses for smart vehicle companies.

The demonstration zone has already attracted carmakers and tech firms, including Dongfeng Motor, Baidu, DeepRoute, Haylion Technologies, DeepBlue Technology, and AutoX to come and test their fleet on the road that features accuracy as precise as a few centimeters and a lag of 5 milliseconds.

The total of more than 100 kms of test road covers various types of traffic situations such as roundabouts, intersections, bridges, underpasses, toll stations. The infrastructure is fit for testing different types of vehicles such as those involving public transport, delivery, and cleaning. The zone will also have a closed 86.7-hectare area that features different weather conditions.

Editor: Emmi Laine