Baidu and Volvo Cars recently announced that they have entered a strategic agreement to jointly develop and mass produce the Level 4 autonomous driving cars for the Chinese market over the next few years, Global Newswire reported on November 1. Under the agreement, Volvo will be able to leverage Baidu's autonomous driving platform Apollo while Baidu can access Volvo's expertise and advanced technologies in automobiles. This cooperation marks the first for both companies. The two companies will seek to develop a new standard for the safety of smart cars. Baidu has been developing autonomous driving technology since 2013. By the end of 2018, Baidu Apollo will leverage its capabilities to consolidate intelligent vehicles and infrastructure for the future intelligent transportation.