Changan Automobile Company Limited and iFLYTEK, a leader in the Chinese speech industry, will set up a joint lab with a focus on technical R&D and product design for automotive electronics and intelligentization as well as vehicle applications, according to a strategic cooperation agreement signed at the carmaker's Research Institute of Automotive Engineering in Chongqing on Tuesday. 

Under the agreement, they will develop technologies and products relating to voice print recognition, sound location, positive voice interaction, and 360-degree obstacle recognition. 

Meanwhile, iFLYTEK will help Changan with the establishment of technical framework, system standard, and technical path for the automaker's intelligent connected car platform, in an effort to equip Changan-branded vehicles with a "brain" that can listen, talk, and think. 

The new partnership is expected to cement Changan's leading position in the auto intelligentization sector and expand iFLYTEK's presence in the realm of smart voice and AI for vehicles.

Zhu Huarong, president of Changan Automobile Company Limited, said that the company will invest 20 billion yuan (2.9 billion U.S. dollars) over the next decade to build a smart R&D team consisting of more than 2,000 people, with a goal to introduce highly automated vehicles by 2020 and commercial self-driving cars by 2025. 

Email: lansuying@nbd.com.cn