Henriette Reker, mayor of Cologne, Germany, has recently led a delegation to visit Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area (Beijing E-Town).

During the visit, the delegation toured the Beijing high-level autonomous driving demonstration area and took a test ride in an intelligent connected bus, getting a first-hand experience of the progress of autonomous driving in Beijing.

At the innovation operation center of the autonomous driving demonstration area, staff members showcased to the delegation the achievements of the five major systems - "smart vehicles, intelligent roads, real-time cloud, reliable network and precise mapping" through videos, sand tables and models.

Up to now, the demonstration area has achieved full coverage of intelligent connected roads and smart city networks over an area of 160 square kilometers, attracting 31 test vehicle companies with over 800 vehicles conducting testing, verification and commercial exploration, accumulating test mileage data of nearly 30 million kilometers. In all, they have developed 69 standard outcomes around the "vehicle-road-cloud-network-map-safety" systems.

Over the 37 years of friendship between the two cities, Beijing and Cologne have carried out fruitful and mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields. This visit has not only provided an opportunity for the delegation to understand Beijing E-Town, but also injected new impetus into deepening the friendly relationship between the two cities and bringing bilateral exchanges to a higher level.