General Motors Co announced on Thursday that it will make an investment of $300 million in the Chinese self-driving startup Momenta for developing self-driving technology for the American company’s future models in China, marking the company’s first such partnership in the world’s largest vehicle market.

Momenta is one of the few firms in China with an authorization to collect high definition maps – which is considered to be a critical tool in the development of autonomous driving technology. The Chinese company is already collaborating with automakers for building mass production vehicles that are laden with self-driving capabilities that can collect data of the surroundings in real time.

SAIC Motor, GM’s primary Chinese partner, as well as Toyota Motor and Daimler AG, have also invested in the Chinese startup.

“Customers in China are embracing electrification and advanced self-driving technology faster than anywhere else in the world, and the agreement between GM and Momenta will accelerate our deployment of next-generation solutions tailor-made for our consumers in China,” said Julian Blissett, GM’s China chief.

In June, the largest auto company of the United States in terms of number of vehicles manufactured, announced a $35 billion global investment that wit planned to make in electric vehicles and automated driving technology trough till 2025. Earlier this month, its venture capital arm invested in Oculii, which a company that is based in the United States and one that develops software for radar sensors that is critically used in self-driving cars.

Automakers and technology companies alike are fast investing billions of dollars in developing self-driving technologies for cars, and all are hoping to be first in what many see as the future of mobility.

There are a number of other major automakers have collaborations with other Chinese businesses on the emerging technologies. Toyota is testing vehicles with Pony.ai, Nissan Motor is collaborating with WeRide, and Honda has partnered with AutoX.

(Adapted from MoneyControl.com)