Chinese automaker BYD and local tech giant Baidu last week announced plans to begin mass production together of self-driving cars by 2021, according to local news reports.

At its worldwide developers conference held in Shenzen last week, BYD unveiled its Qing Pro self-driving car which Baidu said was the only car so far that had passed the Apollo certification process.

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Baidu said the launch of Project Apollo last year had generated the software platform which could be used in vehicle manufacturers' self-driving cars of the future. More than 100 companies have signed up to Baidu's 'ecological cooperation initiative', the company said earlier this year.

Baidu's CEO Zhang Yaqing told the conference the self-driving software could help prevent nine of every 10 road traffic accidents and also improve road use efficiency, including a 40% reduction in travel times and 40% of fuel consumption.

Zhang said half of the work developing the Apollo platform was focused on security.

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