The governments of several major cities in China’s affluent Guangdong province announced on Dec. 27 that they have struck a mutual recognition agreement of permissions to test self-driving vehicles, which marks a big step forward in the development and adoption of autonomous vehicles in the region. Hong Kong and Macau special administrative regions are also expected to join the agreement, as part of a broader goal to establish China’s biggest area for self-driving car tests in the Greater Bay Area, which includes Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macau. Several Chinese companies have become the first beneficiaries of the effort, including Pony.ai, a Nasdaq-listed robotaxi developer, as well as Apollo Go, the autonomous ride-hailing platform launched by Chinese tech giant Baidu. The news comes just one week after the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration proposed new rules that would allow companies to sell and commercialize driverless cars in a less time-consuming way, Reuters reported. [TechNode reporting, 21st Century Business Herald, in Chinese, Reuters]