Three major car manufacturers in China – FAW Group, Chongqing Changan Automobile and Dongfeng Motor – established a joint venture to develop a taxi-booking platform and autonomous vehicle technologies.

T3 Mobile Travel Services will create new technologies in the automotive value chain, with the companies sharing resources and knowledge of the self-driving car market, FAW said in a statement. The joint venture aims to launch services in China and expand overseas.

The companies, which have joint venture agreements with US and European car manufacturers, signed a preliminary agreement for the alliance in December 2017.

In the venture’s sights is Didi Chuxing, the largest taxi-hailing app platform in China, which took over Uber’s operations in the mainland in August 2016.

FAW is expanding outside of traditional car manufacturing. In June it led a $500 million funding round in Byton, an electric vehicle start-up, and holds a 10 per cent stake in Mobike’s car-sharing unit. FAW will supply electric vehicles to the China-based company.