Vcg | Visual China Group | Getty ImagesBEIJING — China's capital city is taking swift steps to allow robotaxi businesses to grow. As of Tuesday, the suburban Beijing city district of Yizhuang is officially letting local robotaxi operators — primarily Baidu and startup Pony.ai — charge fares for fully autonomous taxis, with no human staff inside. "We have very high confidence ... maybe only in three years, our full driverless vehicles are going to be running over the whole Beijing city," he said in an interview with CNBC on Monday. Out of more than 200 robotaxis that Pony.ai operates in the region, only about ten are currently fully driverless, Zhang said. Beijing city did not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment.

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Persons: Ning Zhang, Beijing's, Zhang, Yin Yong, Pony.ai, Baidu, Alphabet's Waymo, Pony.ai's Zhang, —, Leswing, Lora Kolodny Organizations: Visual China, Getty, BEIJING, Baidu, CNBC, Daxing International, robotaxis, General Motors, California Department of Motor Vehicles, Beijing Daxing, Google Locations: Beijing, Yizhuang, Pony.ai, Yizhuang district, Daxing, U.S, San Francisco, California, China, Shenzhen, Wuhan, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Shanghai