[Regulation-Free City, Mega Sandbox] ④ "Consistency in Policy Attracted Capital"…Interview with a Chinese Entrepreneur in Wuhan

A Technology Company Designing the Roads: Run Shefeng, Vice President of Hualizhixing
A Structure Where Central Government Sets Policy and Local Governments Lead Experiments: Wuhan as the Crossroads
Three Tsinghua University Alumni Building Autonomo

"Without policy, corporate challenges remain stagnant. The government was able to push progress forward step by step by introducing new policies every year. This laid the foundation for actually implementing autonomous driving across various industries such as logistics, industrial complexes, and ports."

Run Shefeng, Vice President of Hualizhixing, recently met with The Asia Business Daily in the Wuhan Economic and Technological Development Zone and emphasized the importance of the government's role in corporate growth. Hualizhixing is a company deeply involved in the commercialization of robotaxis in China by building an integrated platform for vehicles, roads, and cloud services. The company provides a 5G-based Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) solution that connects vehicles to other vehicles and vehicles to roads. Hualizhixing has expanded its operations beyond Wuhan to 50 cities worldwide. Currently, robotaxis in the Wuhan region operate on approximately 400 kilometers of roads, and Hualizhixing plans to expand the operating area to over 10,000 kilometers, covering both city streets and highways.

Although Hualizhixing is a startup that has been established for only about 10 years, its technological capabilities are significant. Led by three experts-Chief Executive Officer Chu Zhijun, an artificial intelligence specialist, and Vice Presidents Run Shefeng and An Deshi, both smart network and autonomous driving experts-Hualizhixing was founded in Canada in 2014 and relocated its headquarters to Wuhan in 2017. All three are graduates of Tsinghua University, China's top university, often referred to as the "MIT of China." In 2023, just six years after moving to China, the company received the country's most prestigious national innovation award.

Vice President Run Shepeng Hualizixing is introducing the V2X solution that enables autonomous driving. Hualizixing's technology can implement autonomous driving not only for robotaxis but also in industrial sites such as ports, industrial complexes, and mines. Photo by Jang Heejun

It is commonly believed that the government should not interfere for companies to grow, but intervention for the purpose of deregulation is a different matter. While autonomous driving technology in South Korea still remains at the pilot operation stage, China has implemented Level 4 autonomous driving in virtually all industrial sectors-including roads, logistics, mines, ports, and railways-in less than a decade. Hualizhixing, which was founded less than 10 years ago, has experienced rapid growth, expanding its operations to four countries-China, the United States, Canada, and Mexico-and 50 cities.

The rapid growth of Hualizhixing, which started as a new company, was made possible by the clarity of government policy and institutional trust. Vice President Run evaluated, "In the early stages of development, there was policy support from the government, but capital investment from state-owned enterprises was extremely significant." He added, "Because the government's policy direction was clear, state-owned enterprises were able to boldly invest capital."

The clear direction of policy drove the flow of capital, and that capital determined the speed of industrial development. The Chinese government designated autonomous driving as a core pillar of the new energy and smart vehicle industries and established a system in which central and local governments divide their roles. Last year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) designated 20 cities-including Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan, and Shenzhen-as "vehicle-road-cloud integrated pilot cities," presenting a concrete roadmap.

Municipal ordinances require companies operating autonomous vehicles to secure liability insurance. Some cities, such as Beijing and Wuhan, have made it mandatory to purchase commercial insurance above a certain amount per vehicle and have introduced procedures that encourage analysis of the cause and improvement before resuming operations, rather than immediately suspending operations in the event of an accident. In this way, accident risk has been incorporated into the institutional framework.

V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything) device by Hwarizsing, providing 5G-based V2X solutions for real-time communication between vehicles, roads, and objects. Through this device installed on every traffic light in Wuhan city, vehicles and the cloud are connected to exchange road information in real time. Photo by Jang Heejun

After the MIIT designated the pilot cities, each local government accelerated infrastructure development, with both public funds and private capital moving simultaneously. Wuhan approved a "vehicle-road-cloud integrated demonstration project" worth 17 billion yuan, led by the city's Development and Reform Commission, turning the entire city into a testing ground. The clarity of policy fostered trust, which in turn led to industrial strengthening.

The company expanded its services beyond robotaxis last year to include smart and large-scale logistics. In some regions, such as Inner Mongolia, it has even commercialized "autonomous trucks." Hualizhixing has already accumulated enough data to implement Level 4 (fully autonomous driving in designated areas) in industrial complexes, mines, ports, and railways.

A company representative said, "Even large trucks, which have blind spot issues, can be effectively unmanned. For now, we still place a safety operator in the driver's seat, but this is solely to ensure safety." The representative explained that "unmanned autonomous driving" trucks can operate on regular public roads at any time, as long as the appropriate regulations are established.

The smart roads implemented by Hualizhixing offer not only autonomous driving but also "optimization services." Vice President Run explained, "Information such as freight truck routes, driver assignments, and energy efficiency is optimized through the cloud. At sites where this system has been applied, work speed has improved by 80%, and energy consumption has been reduced by more than 15%."