'16,000 vs 490': China Accelerates While Korea Stalls [Autonomous Driving Ceded to China]

China Accelerates Robotaxi Industry with Local Government Leadership
Korea Shifts Focus to Buses Amid Taxi Industry Opposition
Divergent National Strategies Widen the Technology Gap
Korean Government: "Startup-Focused Technology Development

'16,000 (China) VS 490 (Korea)'

This is the number of autonomous vehicle pilot license plates issued by each government to date. In China, major cities are actively supporting autonomous driving, accelerating the commercialization of unmanned autonomous taxis known as "robotaxis." In contrast, Korea enacted a special law on autonomous driving in 2021 to encourage commercialization, but progress has been sluggish.

According to Chinese consulting firm Guanyan Tianxia on August 26, the cumulative number of autonomous vehicle pilot license plates issued by the Chinese government reached 16,000 as of last year. In Korea, the total number of vehicles granted temporary autonomous driving permits by companies, universities, and research institutes was only 490 as of last month. There are just three robotaxis currently operating commercially in Korea.

Global investment bank Goldman Sachs forecasts that the number of robotaxis operating in China will surge from 4,100 this year to 500,000 by 2030 and 1.9 million by 2035. The size of the Chinese robotaxi market is expected to grow nearly 700-fold, from $54 million (approximately 7.55 billion won) this year to $47 billion (65.73 trillion won) in 2035.

The stark difference in the scale of robotaxis between China and Korea is largely attributed to differences in national strategies and the strong commitment of local governments. On July 26, the Shanghai municipal government made a surprise announcement at the opening ceremony of the 2025 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC), issuing autonomous driving licenses to eight autonomous driving companies and five industry consortia. Shanghai plans to expand robotaxi operations with the goal of establishing itself as a "world-leading autonomous driving zone" by 2027.

Since April, the Beijing municipal government has fully implemented the "Beijing Autonomous Vehicle Ordinance," providing a legal basis for "Level 3" or higher vehicles-those that do not require driver intervention except in emergencies-to operate on public roads. The Chinese government had already outlined in its 2017 mid- to long-term automotive industry development plan that roads should be built or upgraded with autonomous vehicles in mind.

In contrast, Korea's autonomous driving market is centered on buses (shuttles) rather than taxis. This is because buses are considered more public-oriented, and supporting robotaxis would likely face strong opposition from the existing taxi industry. As a result, local governments’ budget support is focused on buses, and autonomous driving startups inevitably prefer buses, which can be commercialized more quickly than robotaxis.

The difference in strategy between the two countries is widening the technology gap. Since 2021, the Korean government has been pursuing the "Autonomous Driving Technology Development and Innovation Project" with a total project cost of 1.0974 trillion won, aiming to complete a "Level 4" fully autonomous driving infrastructure by 2027. More than 600 research institutes and 6,000 researchers are participating in 86 research and development projects, including sensors, cameras, platforms, and communication equipment. However, companies say it is difficult to see tangible results from these efforts in the field.

The CEO of an autonomous driving company, who requested anonymity, said, "It seems the government wanted to start by developing lower-level technologies to increase the chances of investment success. However, almost none of the results produced with government funding are actually usable in business." He added, "The government may have expected that supporting initial research and development would encourage participation from automakers like Hyundai Motor and lead to overall industry growth, but currently, most robotaxi businesses are run by small IT companies."

A government official stated, "We are aware that there is a lack of projects in which IT companies such as those developing robotaxis can participate, even though there is high demand for autonomous driving technology in various fields. Starting in the second half of the year, we plan to launch technology development projects that autonomous driving companies can join."

Ultimately, this has led to Korea falling behind in securing the data that is crucial for autonomous driving technology. The cumulative operating distance of Korea's leading autonomous driving company, Autonomous A2G, is currently about 690,000 kilometers-just 1/160th of Baidu's 110 million kilometers in China.