Backed by software, intelligent vehicles are talk of town

Smart vehicles are rapidly gaining ground in China, as the automotive sector's integration with consumer electronics accelerates, a company executive said.

The trend of automotive companies venturing into the smartphone sector is turning the concept of software-defined cars into a significant point of discussion, spurring new business opportunities, said Shen Ziyu, chairman of Xingji Meizu Group, a developer of smart terminal technologies.

According to the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, the market for intelligent vehicles in China will approach 1 trillion yuan ($137 billion) in scale by 2025.