Chinese Tech Giant Baidu to Test Self-Driving Cars in Beijing

China’s capital city has given the green light to tech giant Baidu Inc to test self-driving cars on city streets, an important step as the country looks to bolster its position in the global race for autonomous vehicles.

Beijing has given Baidu, best known as China’s version of search engine Google, a permit to test its autonomous vehicles on 33 roads spanning around 105 kilometers (65 miles) in the city’s less-populated suburbs, the firm said in a statement.

Baidu is leading China’s push in driverless technology, with Beijing keen to keep up with global rivals such as Waymo, the self-driving arm of Google parent Alphabet
and Tesla. It has a major self-driving project called Apollo.

“With supportive policies, we believe that Beijing will become a rising hub for the autonomous driving industry,” Baidu Vice-President Zhao Cheng said in the statement.

China issued licenses to auto makers allowing self-driving vehicles to be road tested in Shanghai earlier this month, which included Shanghai-based SAIC Motor Corp Ltd and electric vehicle start-up NIO.

Regulations in the sector are, however, still catching up with fast growth and increasing numbers of firms wanting to carry out tests on public roads.

Baidu Chief Executive Robin Li tested his firm’s driverless car on Beijing’s roads last July, stirring controversy as there were no rules for such a test at the time. The firm hopes to get self driving cars onto the roads in China by 2019.

There is growing scrutiny on safety globally after a fatal accident involving an Uber self-driving car in Tempe, Arizona this month raised pressure on the industry to prove its software and sensors are safe. In September last year Baidu announced a $1.5 billion autonomous driving fund, with plans to invest in 100 autonomous driving projects over the next three years.

China’s Fosun Still Interested in Acquiring Greek Insurer if Winning Bid Collapses

Fosun International Ltd came up short in its bid to buy National Bank of Greece SA’s insurance unit, but the Chinese conglomerate is still willing to swoop in if the winning bid collapses, albeit at a different price this time.

Exin Financial Services Holding BV and Calamos Family Partners Inc won a tender to buy a 75 percent stake in the Greek lender’s Ethniki Insurance unit in June after the venture’s 718 million-euro ($882 million) bid was the highest.

Yet there could still be an opening for Fosun after an acrimonious split in the consortium. Calamos has filed legal action against Exin, which has until the end of the month to provide the financing to complete the transaction.

“Fosun has continuously been interested in becoming the controlling shareholder of Ethniki Insurance,” Kang Lan, Fosun executive director and senior vice president, said in a written response to questions by Bloomberg.

“Fosun’s strategy and strong confidence in the company were well recognized by the seller. Therefore, we expect to be considered if Exin failed to complete the deal.”

Still, Fosun will “need to re-evaluate the financials of the company before providing an updated offer,” according to Kang, who is also chairwoman of Fosun’s insurance group.

Shanghai-based Fosun has invested more than 200 million euros in Greece through its direct holding in Athens-based luxury goods retailer Folli Follie Group and indirectly through Thomas Cook Group Plc and Club Med SAS, according to the company.

It’s also participating in a joint venture led by Lamda Development SA that will turn Hellenikon, the former Athens airport site twice the size of New York’s Central Park, into a luxury coastal resort.

Ethniki Insurance is Greece’s biggest insurance company, with presence also in Romania, Bulgaria and Cyprus. National Bank was forced to sell the stake in the company under restructuring plans it agreed with the European Commission to sell