CHONGQING, April 19 (Xinhua) -- Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality has issued license plates for self-driving vehicles owned by seven automakers for public road testing on Wednesday.

The seven automakers are Chongqing-based Changan Automobile, Baidu, FAW Group, Dongfeng Motor, GAC Group, Geely and Foton, according to a launch ceremony held by China Automotive Engineering Research Institute, a third-party organization that will aid the testing.

The city opened 9.6 kilometers of public roads for autonomous car testing in Liang Jiang New Area on Wednesday.

"From a closed test field to public roads, the new move shows not only the fast development of China's self-driving technology but also the solid progress of supporting policies and regulations," said Li Kaiguo, president of the institute.

It is the first batch of self-driving car testing licenses issued by Chongqing after it issued regulations governing road testing of unmanned vehicles in mid-March, following Beijing and Shanghai.

Chongqing produces the most vehicles in China, with an annual production of around 3 million vehicles.