An intelligence-connected new energy vehicle testing center — recognized as a pilot platform for the low-altitude economy — was launched in Xinfeng county of Shaoguan, in northern Guangdong province, on Friday.

As the first large-scale comprehensive testing ground in China to receive airspace usage rights, the testing center is a collaborative project built by five parties, including China Automotive Engineering Research Institute and GAC Group, a major automobile manufacturer in Guangdong.

With a total investment exceeding 3.6 billion yuan ($520 million), the testing ground marked a significant step forward in the integrated development of intelligence-connected vehicles and the low-altitude economy in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Leveraging an integrated architecture of low-altitude, testing, and laboratory, the center can accommodate testing needs across multiple domains, including intelligence-connected NEVs and low-altitude aircraft.

The center offers comprehensive testing conditions, such as complex road conditions, extreme environments, intelligence connectivity, and low-altitude communication links — enabling systematic testing from components to complete vehicles, and from functionality verification to scenario validation.

The testing ground will work in deep collaboration with GAC's existing research and development facilities — such as wind tunnels, safety, and road simulation — aiming to advance GAC's capabilities in achieving more systematic, efficient, and rigorous full lifecycle validation in the context of intelligence-connected NEVs and low-altitude integration scenarios.

"It helps provide a stronger foundation for technological innovation, product quality, and safety reliability," Feng Xingya, chairman and president of GAC Group, said.