Shanghai has become the first Chinese city to issue permits allowing self-driving cars to carry passengers and freight on the city’s streets, a positive sign for companies hoping to monetise the technology in China.

上海成为发放示范应用牌照、允许自动驾驶汽车在该市街道上运送乘客和货物的第一个中国城市，这对希望在中国商业化利用该技术的企业来说是一个积极迹象。

Chinese automaker SAIC motor group, Germany’s BMW and ride-hailing company Didi Chuxing have been granted a primary batch of operational” licences to test a fleet of 50 cars in the Jiading district of Shanghai, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

据官方的新华社报道，中国汽车制造商上汽(SAIC)、德国宝马(BMW)，以及网约车公司滴滴出行(Didi Chuxing)获得首批智能网联汽车示范应用牌照，用于在上海嘉定区测试50辆自动驾驶汽车。

The move, which saw the country do away for the first time with rules limiting companies to passengerless road tests, was a step towards allowing widespread adoption and commercialisation of autonomous driving in the city, Xinhua said.

据新华社报道，此举意味着中国首次放开限制企业只能进行无乘客道路测试的规则，从而朝着允许在上海广泛采用和商业化自动驾驶技术迈出一步。

Vehicles can then carry a cargo or volunteer passengers, but the trips cannot make a profit.

If a company’s fleet of 50 vehicles operates for six months without incident, then they can apply to increase the number of vehicles.

参加测试的自动驾驶汽车可以运载货物或志愿乘客，但不能借此盈利。

如果一家公司的50辆自动驾驶汽车运行6个月不发生交通事故，那么该公司可以申请增加车辆数量。

The ability to deploy self-driving cars with passengers in Shanghai is a big deal” because of the city’s size and complex driving environment, said Tu Le, of consultancy Sino Auto Insights.

咨询公司Sino Auto Insights的涂乐表示，由于该市的规模和复杂行驶环境，上海允许自动驾驶汽车载客上路是一件大事”。

Part of getting [self-driving cars] on the road to commercialisation is acceptance by other drivers and this moves that forward,” Mr Le said.

让自动驾驶汽车走向商业化的一部分就是得到其他司机的接受，此举朝着这个方向前进了一步，”涂乐表示。

Didi in August announced plans to launch a robotaxi fleet in Jiading district, which would give users of its ride-hailing service the option of taking a free self-driving car on certain routes.

滴滴出行在8月份宣布计划在嘉定区推出一个机器人出租车车队，为其叫车服务用户提供在某些路线上免费搭乘自动驾驶汽车的选择。

BMW, the first international automaker to be granted the permits in China, said the licences will allow them to demonstrate the real-world applications of their autonomous driving technologies.

宝马是第一家获得中国这种牌照的国际汽车制造商。

该公司表示，这些牌照将使其能够展示宝马自动驾驶技术的实际应用。

China has the most complicated traffic scenariosin the world”, making research in China an important part of the company’s autonomous driving development worldwide, the company said.

该公司表示，中国有着世界上最复杂的交通场景”，这使在中国进行的研究成为该公司全球自动驾驶开发的重要组成部分。

Automakers have in recent years poured billions into developing autonomous driving, attempting to catch up with leaders such as Google’s Waymo, in expectation that the technology will upendglobal transportation.

汽车制造商近年投入巨额资金开发自动驾驶技术，试图赶上谷歌(Google)旗下的Waymo等领军者。

各方预期该技术将颠覆全球交通运输。

Many have seized upon robotaxis as a good bet to recoup investments, but the companies still face numerous regulatory hurdles to get to widespread adoption — let alone commercialisation — of the technology.

许多企业抓住机器人出租车作为收回投资的靠谱押注，但这些公司仍面临众多监管障碍，才能让该技术得到广泛采用，更不用说商业化了。

The US has so far issued more testing licences than China for self-driving cars that can carry passengers, with cities including Phoenix, San Francisco, Detroit, Pittsburgh and Palo Alto already granting permits.

到目前为止，美国发放了比中国更多的让自动驾驶汽车搭载乘客的测试牌照，比如凤凰城、旧金山、底特律、匹兹堡和帕洛阿尔托等城市都已发放牌照。

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