Huawei targeting driverless car technology rollout by 2025

Huawei plans to invest a billion dollars in self-driving and electric-car technologies in an attempt to compete with Tesla and other car companies.

As per company’s representative, the self-driving technology has already surpassed Tesla's in some spheres, for instance by allowing cars to cruise for more than 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) without human intervention.

The company initially plans to partner with three automakers including BAIC Group, Chongqing Changan Automobile, and Guangzhou Automobile Group, in a bid to make self-driving cars that carry the Huawei name as a sub-brand.

Senior executive at Huawei's smart vehicle unit, told an industry conference, "Our team's goal is to reach true driverless passenger cars in 2025".

Backing up Huawei, dozens of startups, automakers and large technology firms such as internet search leader Baidu Inc (9888.HK) are accelerating work on self-driving vehicle systems.

This could bring a massive change to the transportation industry.

Moreover, Chinese tech giant has pivoted to smart electric vehicles after its global smartphone business was hammered by US sanctions.

The previous US administration labelled the company a threat to national security - a charge Huawei denies.