On October 28, the Office of the Joint Working Group on Intelligent Vehicle Road Testing and Demonstration Application Management in Hainan Province issued a notice announcing the fifth batch of open road sections (areas) for intelligent vehicle testing and demonstration applications in the province.
This expansion significantly broadens the scope, covering seven cities and counties including Haikou and Sanya as well as key highway sections, further enriching test and application scenarios for intelligent connected vehicles and continuously strengthening the foundation for Hainan's intelligent vehicle industry development.
Intelligent connected vehicles have become a strategic high ground for the transformation and upgrading of the global automotive industry. In order to align with the nationwide trend of continuously expanding test and demonstration areas and to seize strategic opportunities for industry development, this round opens relevant road sections within the administrative areas of seven cities and counties — Haikou, Sanya, Qionghai, Wenchang, Wanning, Chengmai County, and Lingshui Li Autonomous County — as intelligent vehicle testing and demonstration application road sections (areas), along with the G98 Ring Island Expressway section from Bo'ao Interchange to Sanya Meishan Interchange, excluding road sections (areas) that are temporarily unsuitable for opening.
In terms of management, Hainan implements a negative list management approach for open areas. Road sections (areas) temporarily unsuitable for opening are included in the list and subject to dynamic adjustment. Intelligent vehicle testing and demonstration activities shall not be conducted on road sections (areas) included in the list. It is also specified that entities conducting testing and demonstration must meet Hainan Province's management requirements for intelligent vehicle road testing and demonstration applications, possess corresponding capabilities in technical research and development, testing and evaluation, remote monitoring, and event recording, and purchase traffic accident liability insurance as required.
Furthermore, entities conducting testing and demonstration must strictly comply with laws and regulations including the Highway Law of the People's Republic of China and the Regulations on Highway Safety Protection, and carry out testing and demonstration work in a scientific manner. Vehicle braking performance testing on highways is prohibited to ensure that testing and demonstration work is conducted safely and orderly.
It is particularly important to note that entities intending to conduct intelligent vehicle testing and demonstration in Hainan Province should, in accordance with Hainan Province's management requirements for intelligent vehicle road testing and demonstration applications, submit relevant application materials through the prescribed procedures, including the proposed time, route (area), safety officers, risk analysis and response measures for the testing or demonstration project. Only after approval and obtaining temporary vehicle license plates may testing and demonstration services be conducted on designated public roads.
From the perspective of the fifth batch of open road sections, building on the original urban road testing, both the opened expressways and administrative area scope have been expanded, with more diverse testing scenarios that can effectively accommodate testing needs such as high-speed travel and long-distance commuting for intelligent vehicles, aligning with actual industry research and development, iteration, and demonstration application scenarios.
In July 2024, Hainan Province was approved as a national pilot for intelligent connected vehicle "vehicle-road-cloud integration" application, making it the only province in the country to jointly carry out the pilot with a "three cities and two lines" approach (Haikou, Sanya, and Qionghai, along with the eastern route of the Ring Island Tourism Highway and the eastern route of the Ring Island Expressway). To this end, Hainan has successively promoted the introduction of a series of documents including the three-year action plan for the pilot, construction plans, infrastructure construction guidelines, and management platform construction guidelines, clarifying the direction and path for the "three cities and two lines" pilot construction from task allocation and plan design to unified operating standards.
Open testing and demonstration areas have been expanding year by year, stimulating the momentum of the intelligent vehicle industry. In February 2025, Hainan announced the fourth batch of open testing and demonstration application roads for intelligent vehicles, with approximately 1,950 square kilometers of urban areas in Haikou, Sanya, Qionghai, and other cities already opened across the province, as well as approximately 1,230 kilometers of cross-city and long-distance roads including the Ring Island Tourism Highway and expressways, placing the open testing and demonstration area among the top in the country.
Currently, the province has cumulatively opened administrative land areas in 8 cities and counties and opened 8 intelligent vehicle testing and demonstration application road sections, which can provide rich scenarios for the research and development, verification, and commercial application of autonomous driving technology, effectively stimulating the vitality of enterprise development.
In recent years, the Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government have attached great importance to this pilot work, having held multiple special meetings to study it and proposing a strategic deployment of "driving industrial development through application," adhering to the principle of "safe and orderly, small steps but fast pace," steadily expanding the scope of intelligent vehicle open testing, continuously optimizing the industrial development ecosystem, and accelerating the building of an intelligent connected vehicle industry application highland with Hainan characteristics.
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