十年之前，伦敦奥运会将英国推到全球体育文化最前沿。         Chinese autonomous driving firm Pony.ai launched commercial robotaxi services in Zagreb, Croatia on April 8. Photo:Courtesy of Pony.ai
Chinese autonomous-driving company Pony.ai said on Monday that its cumulative autonomous-driving distance worldwide has surpassed 100 million kilometers, marking the latest milestone as China's driverless sector moves from technology validation toward mass production and scaled commercial deployment.
The milestone comes as L4 autonomous driving gains commercial traction across passenger transport and logistics in China, while Chinese companies are accelerating overseas deployment through partnerships with local operators in markets including Europe and Southeast Asia.
Industry experts said that the significance goes beyond rising distance. As commercialization gathers pace, the next phase of competition will increasingly hinge on whether autonomous-driving technology can be deployed at scale, brought down to commercially viable costs and replicated across different transport scenarios and markets.
At a recent media briefing, Pony.ai said that its fourth-generation L4 autonomous electric heavy-duty truck had entered mass production, with commercial operations expected to begin in the coming months. The company plans to deploy 500 to 1,000 trucks over the next two to three years across long-haul freight, bulk cargo transport and port logistics.
A notable part of that transition is the sharp decline in costs. Autonomous-driving hardware costs for Pony.ai's fourth-generation heavy truck are about 70 percent lower than for the previous generation, according to the company.
Similar cost reductions are also emerging in robotaxis. Pony.ai said on its official blog that the bill-of-materials cost of the autonomous-driving kit for its seventh-generation robotaxi has fallen 70 percent from the previous generation, helping the company achieve unit-economics breakeven in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province.
China's autonomous-driving sector is moving from technology validation to large-scale commercial deployment, underpinned by the rapid accumulation of real-world driving data, Pan Helin, a member of the Expert Committee for the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, told the Global Times on Monday. 
"Continuous road testing allows L4 systems to better adapt to local traffic conditions, laying the groundwork for wider commercial use," Pan said.
China has opened multiple cities to autonomous-driving applications, with commercialization gathering pace. As deployment expands and marginal technology costs fall, autonomous driving is expected to unlock significant commercial value and emerge as a new form of mobility, veteran industry analyst Liu Dingding told the Global Times.
Pony.ai aims to expand its robotaxi fleet to more than 3,000 vehicles by the end of 2026 and operate in 20 cities worldwide, with nearly half of those cities overseas. It also plans to develop an international version of its seventh-generation robotaxi tailored to different regulatory requirements and infrastructure, supporting the deployment of more than 1,000 vehicles in overseas markets. 
Pony.ai's ambition also reflects a broader push by Chinese autonomous-driving companies to expand overseas.
On August 3, WeRide announced a partnership with Danish shared-mobility platform GreenMobility to deploy autonomous ride-hailing services in Denmark, marking its first entry into the Nordic region and sixth European market. Subject to regulatory approval, the service is expected to open to the public in the first half of 2027 using WeRide's latest GXR L4 robotaxi.
WeRide said on its website that its autonomous-driving products are now deployed in more than 40 cities across 12 countries. The company holds autonomous-driving permits in eight markets and operates a global L4 fleet of more than 3,000 vehicles.
A similar expansion is taking place in public transport. On July 17, Chinese autonomous-driving company MOGOX announced a strategic partnership with Singapore-based ComfortDelGro Bus. The two companies will cooperate on autonomous-vehicle deployment and operations, commercial expansion and coordination with regulators.
Pan said that China's autonomous-driving sector has two key advantages: a broad supplier base for major components and a large domestic market that allows companies to deploy services widely and accumulate real-world data. Advances in simulation and synthetic-data technologies have further strengthened the sector's ability to train and refine autonomous-driving systems.
Liu pointed to the cost benefits of scale. As deployment expands, the cost of key automotive-grade components such as lidar and chips continues to fall, improving the economics of commercial operations and creating more room for technological iteration, he said.
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二 | 当时，英国从上至下许多人信心满满地认为，这场夏季奥运会将给英国带来极大的改变。

三 | 十年之后，伦敦人不得不承认，2012年奥运会的确提升了国民的体育热情，但对于经济的助推力已逐渐消失。卡彭特公寓距离伦敦东区的奥运会主场馆和奥林匹克公园10分钟步行可达。住在这个公寓区路德楼高层公寓20楼的住户沃伦·鲁滨接受当地《旗帜晚报》采访时表示，在2012年奥运会期间，英国广播公司在路德楼内租下房间，改成奥运直播室，不过奥运会直播节目结束后这里又变得冷清。

四 | 他居住的这片公寓如今至少有400户空房，为了保持人气，这些空房的水电气管线仍一应俱全，这让地方政府背负的开支负担越来越大。伦敦当地在线新闻媒体“纽汉姆之声”创办人怀特认为，昔日奥运场馆区并没有带动地方繁荣。有地方官员抱怨，众口难调让地区发展失去方向。此外，一些英国运动员的职业生涯也未如预期般顺利。英国《每日邮报》称，从自行车、游泳到划艇等项目，近些年都有种族、性别歧视或霸凌现象见诸报端。

五 |

但伦敦人也承认，2012年奥运会依然带来许多积极效应。为了纪念伦敦奥运会举办10周年，伊丽莎白女王奥林匹克公园从7月24日到8月初举办庆祝活动，用巨大屏幕播放2012年奥运会精彩片段，免费参观者可尝试自行车、田径和网球等多个奥运会项目。增强国民体育锻炼意识，是2012年伦敦奥运会留给这个国家的最大财富。

六 | 与2005年英国成功申奥之初时相比，目前在英国每周至少参加一次体育活动的人数增加140万。在过去十年，英国政府投向青年和社区体育活动的资金高达10亿英镑，以鼓励更多人参加体育活动并完善相关设施。此外，英国的创意产业伴随奥运会举办也得到更多的社会重视。伦敦当地人熟悉的“东村”，在10年间成功建造了2个大型商圈，创造就业岗位2.5万个，建成住宅1.1万套。正在兴建中的东岸创意区容纳维多利亚与艾尔伯特博物馆、沙德勒之井剧院以及英国广播公司当地分支机构，还有多所英国高校“创意区”陆续开放。刚过去一年的东京奥运会，也面临与伦敦同样的问题。据日本NHK电视台报道，7月23日，日本举行仪式纪念东京奥运会开幕一周年，东京都知事小池百合子表示，因新冠肺炎疫情导致东京奥运会历经坎坷，希望能利用好奥运遗产，推动东京向前发展。今年6月，东京奥组委发布最终财务报告，显示东京奥运会和残奥会全部举办费用为1.4238万亿日元（约合130亿美元）。近日，NHK走访了其中投入金额最高的竞技场等场馆，了解到奥运结束后相关体育设施的使用率并不高。

七 |

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