‘Look, no hands’: China chases the driverless dream at Beijing car show

At the Beijing Auto Fair Chinese automakers showcased a push into autonomous driving as a strategic response to slowing domestic EV sales. Companies are increasingly monetising software and AI-powered features — from Xpeng’s command-driven parking to Xiaomi’s in-car OS — while Huawei pledged up to 80bn yuan over five years for autonomous-driving tech. The shift accompanies weak domestic vehicle demand (passenger sales down 17% in Q1) but surging exports (up >60% in Q1), pushing firms to target overseas markets and robotaxi deployments (Geely’s Caocao plans; Baidu’s Apollo partnerships with Lyft and Uber). Regulatory barriers and recent operational failures (Apollo Go robotaxis stalled in Wuhan) temper near-term rollout prospects. Overall, the trend implies a reorientation of growth drivers for Chinese auto manufacturers from unit sales to software, services and international expansion, with implications for valuations and competition in global EV and autonomous-vehicle markets.