Baidu Inc (ADR) (NASDAQ:BIDU) announced that it will begin testing its fleet of self-driving vehicles.

The company unveiled that it will begin a long-term test of its AI-powered cars in China, specifically in the in the city of Baoding in northern Hebei province. The city is located about 100 miles from the country’s capital.

Baidu believes that self-driving technology can eventually make the roads of China safer, and it will be testing these AI-powered machines over the coming years. It was difficult getting this project off the ground due to strict regulations from the government.

Most Chinese cities have traffic regulations that ban self-driving cars from being on the road.”When self-driving cars become common, lives will be saved,” said Baidu CEO Robin Li. “It’s of great economic and social significance.”

The company’s self-driving unit is called Autonomous Driving Unit (ADU) and it’s based out of Beijing and Silicon Valley. “ADU brings together a group of high caliber talent to work on audacious goals – commercializing autonomous driving by 2018 and achieving mass production by 2020,” the company’s website reads.

Baidu performed road tests in China for self-driving technology in 2015, allowing vehicles to travel at up to 100 km/h, as well as maneuvering its way around town with little difficulty.

BIDU stock surged 0.3% Thursday.