(Yicai Global) April 3 -- Beijing will extend testing of autonomous vehicles to 2,000 kilometers by 2022 from 123km last year, and the testing area will be 500 square-kilometers, according to a new report.

The capital granted testing licenses to 56 auto-drive cars from eight companies in last year, the Beijing Innovation Center for Mobility Intelligent report states, adding that these autos have driven safely for over 15.4 kilometers on 44 testing roads to date

Beijing took the leading position in terms of approvals for autonomous driving, related companies and cars, as the city makes up over half of testing cars in the country, the report states.

Licensed firms include internet giants Baidu and Tencent Holdings, as well as well-known international carmakers like Daimler and Audi and EV unicorn NIO.

Editor: William Clegg