Xiongan is made up of three counties in Beijing's neighboring Hebei province. It is expected to develop into a hi-tech hub and showcase some of China's latest innovations as outlined in Xi's technology blueprint.

Baidu has a permit to test its autonomous vehicles on 33 roads spanning around 105 kilometers (65 miles) in Xiongan.

Baidu hopes have self-driving cars in China by 2019 or 2020.

The companies listed below are also working on self-driving cars
* SAIC Motor Corp
* electric vehicle start-up NIO
* Didi Chuxing, China's ride-hailing giant