As Hainan prepares to embrace a new era when Customs operations at Hainan Free Trade Port will be completely independent islandwide from Dec 18, the island province has introduced a 50 billion yuan ($7.02 billion) intelligent driving scheme to boost green driving.

Speaking at a seminar in Haikou, the provincial capital, Haikou Vice-Mayor Feng Yong said on Sept 28 that the Hainan Free Trade Port has always prioritized green transport and smart cultural tourism as key development orientations.

An autonomous driving ecosystem forum was held in Haikou, witnessing the signing of the 50 billion yuan scheme to start a new development phase for China's car rental industry — integrating new energy and intelligent mobility with tourism and culture.

In recent years, China's cultural tourism industry has entered a critical moment for intelligent upgrading, as the global automotive industry accelerates its transition toward new energy and intelligent technologies.

By leveraging its unique policy advantages, the Hainan Free Trade Port has taken note of this trend and designed forward-looking planning to perfect its infrastructure, emerging as a leading hub for the integrated development of intelligent mobility and green cultural tourism.

Feng said the new industrial ecosystem — integrating new energy vehicles, financial empowerment, tourism and cultural sectors, and intelligent manufacturing — will inject powerful momentum into Haikou, helping elevate it into a global benchmark region for smart mobility and the integration of tourism and culture.

According to the partnership, industrial leader CAR Inc will partner with five financial institutions and eight mainstream automakers to start an intelligent driving future plan.

Huang Wencong, deputy director of Hainan provincial department of industry and information technology, said the global automotive industry is undergoing profound changes in "electrification, intelligence and networking".

As a national pilot province, Hainan Free Trade Port has built over 100 smart intersections, opened 1,950 square kilometers of testing areas and 1,230 kilometers of testing roads, providing rich application scenarios for the research and development of intelligent travel and autonomous driving technology, he said.

CAR's strategy is highly compatible with the development orientation of Hainan's industries, Huang said, adding that he looks forward to attracting more enterprises to jointly create a "Hainan Experience" which can provide references for the whole country.

In his speech at the forum, CAR Inc Chairman Yu Hongfei stressed that while NEVs have become a rapidly progressing industry of 1 trillion yuan in size, autonomous driving is also accelerating, with smart tourism and intelligent travel constantly driving new consumption trends.

Against this backdrop, the car rental industry has ample opportunities to fully exert its influence in Hainan, he said.

By centering on three core pillars — promoting intelligent travel, boosting green development and creating win-win ecology, CAR Inc has built a platform connecting various parties and achieved collaborative development during the past 18 years.

CAR Inc CEO Gao Dewu claimed that CAR has formed three core advantages with its network coverage, user base and product matrix, owning nearly 200,000 vehicles with a service network through over 6,500 outlets in 360 cities.

"The 180 million rental-car consumers, mainly in first and second tier cities, are providing a natural market for new energy and intelligent travel products," he said.

With deep cooperation with 65 brands and 34 new-energy original equipment manufacturers, CAR Inc has formed its three core advantages of wide network coverage, large user base and product matrix, Gao said, noting that its market share for over 10 years in a row is not only a proof of its business size, but also adding much confidence to itself.

"We are not just integrating autonomous driving technology into cars, but deeply integrating it into the entire process of tourism services," said CAR Vice-President Zhao Zhe, adding that "users are no longer just renting a car, but choosing a new way of travel."

By collaborating with technology partners, car manufactures, financial institutions, as well as upstream and downstream partners, CAR Inc will help usher in an ecosystem with technology-aided scenarios and services, she said.

She noted that the partners will jointly explore innovative business models and promote the comprehensive development of green and intelligent travel ecology.

In terms of car rental services, she noted that intelligent driving products will redefine the traditional car rental experience, with intelligent route recommendations, tour guides and multilingual intelligent voice interaction functions, providing intimate services for domestic and foreign tourists.

hanjingyan@chinadaily.com.cn