(Yicai) July 16 -- Baidu said the Chinese tech company is teaming up with Uber Technologies to deploy thousands of its Apollo Go driverless taxis on the ride-hailing provider's app outside the Chinese mainland and the United States.

The new service is expected to launch in Asia and the Middle East by the end of this year, Beijing-based Baidu announced late yesterday. The tie-up will focus on increasing the supply of affordable and reliable ride-hailing options, it said, with Uber customers able to select an Apollo Go robotaxi when booking a trip.

Baidu joins other Chinese autonomous vehicle leaders -- Pony.ai, Momenta, and WeRide -- which have already struck similar deals with San Francisco-based Uber to bring their robotaxi services overseas.

“We are committed to bringing the benefit of autonomous driving technology to more people in more markets, and this partnership with Uber represents a major milestone in deploying our technology on a global scale,” said Robin Li, co-founder, chairman, and chief executive of Baidu.

“We look forward to working with Uber to deliver safe and efficient autonomous mobility solutions to riders around the world,” Li said.

After jumping 5 percent at the market open in Hong Kong today, Baidu’s shares [HKG: 9888] closed 1 percent higher at HKD88.55 (USD11.28) each. Its New York-listed stock [NASDAQ: BIDU] climbed 8.7 percent to USD93.30 yesterday.

Thanks to maturing technology, policy support, and significant reductions in operational costs due to large-scale road testing in Chinese cities, Apollo Go's business model has been validated to a certain extent and can now be rapidly replicated and implemented in overseas markets, industry insiders told Yicai.

Apollo Go continues to accelerate its expansion outside the Chinese mainland to catch up with its rivals, agreeing to start road testing in designated areas in Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the first quarter of this year, with plans to launch no less than 1,000 self-driving autos in Dubai by 2028.

Its testing zones in Hong Kong are also expanding, while sources told Yicai that the service will likely enter Switzerland and Turkey next.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Martin Kadiev