The two envisages that by the end of the development and testing process, the vehicles which will reach level 4 technology for autonomous vehicles, will be capable of operating autonomously in certain conditions.

On Wednesday, Ford Motor Co and Baidu Inc stated, they have launched a joint venture to test self-driving vehicles on Chinese roads.

The collaboration between the two will see them starting to test self-driving vehicles on designated roads in Beijing by the end of 2018; the project could expand to other Chinese cities as well.

They went on to add, by the end of the development and testing process, the vehicles which will reach level 4 technology for autonomous vehicles, will be capable of operating autonomously in certain conditions.

Level 5 is the highest technological capacity for autonomous vehicles which provides for vehicles to be capable of self-navigation on public roads without requiring any input from a human driver.

Baidu, China’s top search engine operator is taking a lead role in China’s push for self-driving technology; in June 2018, Baidu had said it would develop artificial intelligence, connected services, and digital marketing in China.

In July 2018, Beijing had given Daimler AG, a go-ahead for testing self-driving cars on roads, making it the first international carmaker to be granted such a license in the Chinese capital.