Qiming Stars | Seven-Nation Permit, World's Only! WeRide Robobus Secures Belgium's First L4 Autonomous Driving License
As an autonomous driving technology company, WeRide's ultimate goal has always been to achieve safe and reliable Level 4 fully driverless operations. Securing the Belgium autonomous driving test permit is a critical step toward this goal, demonstrating the company's technical capabilities in real-world road scenarios and setting a benchmark for more European countries to open up autonomous driving testing.
Recently, Qiming Venture Partners portfolio company WeRide (NASDAQ: WRD) announced that its autonomous shuttle Robobus (hereinafter referred to as "WeRide Robobus") has officially obtained Belgium's first federal-level L4 autonomous driving test license. With this, WeRide has become the only technology company in the world whose products hold autonomous driving permits in seven countries, covering Belgium, China, France, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and the United States.
The license was signed by Jean-Luc Crucke, Belgium's Minister of Mobility, Climate, and Energy Transition, at the Autonomous Mobility Summit. Under the permit, the WeRide Robobus is authorized to conduct public road tests between Leuven and Heverlee, Belgium, along an 8km loop with 9 stops. The testing is being conducted in partnership with De Lijn, a prominent public transport company in the Flemish region, the Leuven government, and mobility consultancy Espaces-Mobilités.
Following a comprehensive safety assessment of the route by Belgium's Federal Public Service for Mobility and Transport, the WeRide Robobus secured this road test license. Pending final approval from the Flemish regional authorities, the WeRide Robobus will launch testing activities in the coming weeks, with safety operators on board during the initial phase.
Upon completion of testing, WeRide's local partner De Lijn will officially commence trial operations on this route from mid-November 2025 to the end of January 2026. This will mark Belgium's first commercial deployment of autonomous vehicles in mixed and complex traffic environments**, when citizens will be able to conveniently purchase tickets via digital tickets, SMS, or subscription services. The project is expected to transition to regular operations thereafter.**
**Li Xuan, WeRide's CFO and Head of International Business, stated: "**As an autonomous driving technology company, our ultimate goal has always been to achieve safe and reliable L4 fully unmanned operations. **Obtaining Belgium's autonomous driving test license is a critical step toward that goal — it allows us to demonstrate the robust capabilities of our autonomous driving technology in real-world road scenarios and sets a benchmark for more European countries to open up autonomous driving testing. We are deeply grateful to the Belgian authorities for their trust in our technology, and even more so for their strong support of safer, smarter, and more sustainable future mobility."
From WeRide's announcement that the WeRide Robobus had arrived in Belgium and begun road test preparations to securing Belgium's first federal-level L4 autonomous driving test license, WeRide took just one week — once again demonstrating its leading "WeRide Speed" to the industry.
At the same time, WeRide is accelerating its expansion into other European markets. In August, WeRide deployed its first batch of Robotaxis in the Furttal region of Switzerland, deeply participating in the iamo (Intelligent Automated Mobility) pilot project jointly initiated by Swiss Transit Lab (STL) and Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF FFS). In March, WeRide partnered with beti, a French autonomous mobility network operator, to secure France's first pure driverless public road testing and operating license for the WeRide Robobus**.**
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Qiming Venture Partners was founded in 2006. The firm currently manages 11 USD funds and 7 RMB funds, with total assets under management reaching $9.5 billion. Since its inception, Qiming Venture Partners has focused on investing in outstanding early and growth-stage companies in the Technology and Healthcare sectors.
To date, Qiming Venture Partners has invested in over 580 high-growth innovative companies, of which more than 210 have gone public on the New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited, Shanghai Stock Exchange, and Shenzhen Stock Exchange, or exited through M&A and other means. More than 80 portfolio companies have become recognized unicorns or super-unicorns in their industries.
Many of Qiming Venture Partners' portfolio companies have grown into the most influential companies in their respective fields, including Xiaomi (01810.HK), Meituan (03690.HK), Bilibili (NASDAQ: BILI, 09626.HK), Zhihu (NYSE: ZH, 02390.HK), Roborock (688169.SH), UBTECH (09880.HK), WeRide (NASDAQ: WRD), Insta360 (688775.SH), Gan & Lee Pharmaceuticals (603087.SH), Tigermed (300347.SZ, 03347.HK), Zai Lab (NASDAQ: ZLAB, 09688.HK), CanSino Biologics (688185.SH, 06185.HK), Schrödinger (NASDAQ: SDGR), MicroPort EP MedTech (688617.SH), Sanyou Medical (688085.SH), Amoy Diagnostics (300685.SZ), Berry Genomics (000710.SZ), Sinocelltech (688520.SH), Yuanxin Technology, Insilico Medicine, MediLink Therapeutics, LaNova Medicines, Zhipu AI, StepFun, Biren Technology, and others.