With the Beijing Motor Show underway, the days when the country's domestic car firms was brushed off as mere¹ copycats are well and truly over. And a lot of this year's buzz is around driverless cars in particular.

随着北京国际车展的举行，中国国产汽车企业只能作为不入流的模仿者的时代已经一去不复返了。在今年的车展上，无人驾驶汽车尤其成为了议论的焦点。

In past years, innovation might have come from Silicon² valley, but Chinese companies are pushing ahead. "There is a lot more going on in China than many in the West have realized," car expert Prof David Bailey of the Aston Business School tells the BBC.

在以前，技术创新经常是由硅谷的公司带来的，但是在今年，中国企业走在了前面。阿斯顿商业学院的汽车专家戴维·贝利教授接受BBC采访时表示：“中国比许多西方国家做的还要多。”

Who are the big players?

那么都有哪些大型企业在做呢？

Changan: Two driverless cars drove more than 2,000km (1,240 miles) from its headquarters to Beijing using cameras and radar³ to complete the trip in six days - the car firm says it was able to do research on lane-keeping and changing, traffic sign recognition, automatic cruising and voice control.

长安：两辆无人驾驶汽车利用摄像机和雷达制导，在长达六天的时间内从长安总部开到了北京，行驶里程超过了2000公里（约合1240英里）。长安公司负责人表示，目前长安公司可以研究如何使无人驾驶汽车保持和变更车道、识别交通信号、自动巡航、以及识别语音信号。

Baidu and BMW: A cooperation between Chinese tech giant Baidu and German car maker⁴ BMW saw a driverless car drive 30km through Beijing traffic, managing a range of manoeuvres, including U-turns, lane changes and merging⁵ into traffic from ramps⁶.

百度和宝马：中国科技巨头百度和德国汽车制造商宝马开展了一项合作，共同开发无人驾驶汽车。一辆由他们研发的无人驾驶汽车成功地在北京繁忙的交通中行驶了30公里，途中经历了一系列复杂的交通路况演练，例如U形弯道、变更车道和坡道会车等。

Geely and Volvo: Chinese owned Swedish car maker Volvo says it plans to test 100 driverless cars on public roads in "everyday conditions". It is thought to be a significant move to establish the Sino-Swedish team at the forefront of development. Volvo is also testing driverless cars in Sweden and the UK.

吉利和沃尔沃：中国企业控股的瑞典汽车制造商沃尔沃发表声明称，公司将计划在公共交通的“日常情况”下测试100辆无人驾驶汽车。这一举措被认为将是中国吉利和瑞典沃尔沃公司携手发展过程中非常重要的一步。沃尔沃也将会在瑞典和英国进行无人驾驶汽车测试。

In addition to these main players there are many others vying⁷ for attention. Research in China takes place in car companies, tech firms and at universities.

在中国，除了这些大企业之外，还有许多其他的技术开发活动也引起了注意。很多中国的汽车企业、科技公司和大学都在开展无人驾驶汽车技术的研究。

So when will it be normal to have a driverless car pull up next to you at the traffic light? "We are probably still one decade away from that," says Prof Bailey.

那么，无人驾驶汽车什么时候才能够正常投入使用呢？贝利教授说：“我们也许还需要10年。”