China has resumed issuing robotaxi licences after suspending new approvals in April following a major incident involving Baidu’s Apollo Go autonomous taxi fleet. According to a Bloomberg report citing people familiar with the matter, regulators have begun granting permits again in selected cities after completing an industry-wide safety review at the end of June.
The licensing freeze came after, on the evening of 31 March 2026, dozens of autonomous vehicles operated by Apollo Go, a subsidiary of the internet conglomerate Baidu, came to a sudden halt in the middle of the road in Wuhan, a city with a population of over 13 million people. Reports vary, with estimates ranging from a few dozen to over 200 vehicles affected. The cause was reportedly a system failure.
According to local media reports, citing industry sources, the vehicles may have encountered unexpected situations that triggered an automated safety self-check, causing them to stop operating.
Bloomberg reports that the review has now concluded, allowing authorities to gradually restart approvals in some cities. One of the first companies to receive a new permit is autonomous driving specialist Momenta. The company announced on 21 July that it had obtained approval for intelligent connected vehicle road testing in Shenzhen. The permit adds Shenzhen to Momenta’s existing testing locations in Shanghai, Suzhou and Wuxi, making it another core operating city in China.
