HAIKOU, October 16. /TASS/. Four roads have been opened in China's southern province of Hainan to test self-driving technology. This marks the beginning of an important stage in the development of "smart" vehicles in the province, www.hinews.cn reported.

The highways selected for testing are located in Haikou, Sanya, Qionghai and Wenchang. Their total length amounts to 129.2 km. The longest track — 88.7 km — is located in Wenchang. The S-206 motorway is also part of the ring road encircling the island. 

On October 1, Hainan introduced an administrative regulation for testing and demonstration of self-driving vehicles. The document is intended to draw companies involved in testing, development and implementation of smart car technologies and related applications to Hainan.

In the future, the local authorities plan to transform Hainan into a large international hub for testing self-driving technologies.