Tech giant Xiaomi has become the latest Beijing automaker to be granted an L3-level autonomous driving road test permit, following BAIC and Li Auto.
According to local media outlet Beijing Daily, Xiaomi has revealed that its Auto unit obtained the license and is conducting regular L3-level road tests.
This test license is mainly used for conditional autonomous driving tests on Beijing’s intelligent connected vehicle high-speed test roads.
The permits allow automakers to conduct what regulators term “normalized” L3 road testing — routine operations rather than limited trials — for conditional autonomous driving in designated areas.
The Beijing Autonomous Driving Vehicle Annual Assessment Report (2024–2025) noted that, as of the end of September 2025, 23 companies had tested 750 autonomous vehicles, driving over 60 million kilometers (37 million miles).
These included not only autonomy-focused firms, such as Pony.ai and WeRide, but also several automakers in the city, including FAW Group and the German brand Mercedes-Benz.
Permits Announced Earlier this Week
As reported earlier this week, Li Auto and Guangzhou-based XPeng both received L3 test licenses in their respective home cities.
The approvals follow an announcement by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology certifying the country’s first batch of L3-level conditional autonomous driving models.
As first reported by Reuters, the first two carmakers getting the permit approval were the state-owned Changan Auto and BAIC Motor.
Two models suited for urban congestion and highway scenarios will begin on-road pilot programs in designated areas of Beijing and Chongqing, marking a key step toward commercial application.
In the past two years, BYD, Nio, and Zeekr have obtained similar autonomous driving test licenses in other cities.
Xiaomi HAD Enhanced Vision
In late November, Xiaomi began rolling out its Highway Assisted Driving (HAD) Enhanced Version, introducing smoother acceleration and braking and lane change decisions.
It also included AES (Automatic Emergency Steering) assistance, which can perform emergency steering to avoid collisions when space and lane conditions allow, especially if AEB alone cannot effectively prevent or reduce collision risk.
The fourth version of the software was unveiled at the Guangzhou Auto Show.
By then — and as the brand reached half a million vehicles produced — Xiaomi announced that its assisted driving system has seen high engagement, with an active usage rate of 90% since late July.
In November, the system served 473,000 drivers, accumulated over 300 million kilometers (186 million miles), potentially prevented 457,000 collisions, and recorded nearly 31 million uses of parking assistance — according to Xiaomi.
The company plans to further expand investment in assisted driving technology.
In 2025, the brand invested more than 7 billion yuan ($994 million) in AI research, and its smart driving team has grown to over 1,800 members.
