SHENZHEN -- Four self-driving buses began trial operations Saturday in south China's Shenzhen, a city known for its high concentration of hi-tech companies.

The smart buses, which are smaller than an ordinary bus, began running on a 1.2-kilometer route with three stops in the bonded zone of Futian.

The buses have a designed speed of 10 to 30 kph. Equipped with lidar censors, cameras, and GPS antenna, the buses can avoid hitting pedestrians, vehicles and barriers, safely change lanes and stop at designated sites.

The buses will have a driver who can manually brake or change the vehicle from self-driving to manual mode in case of emergency.

The project was jointly developed by the National Intelligent Transport Systems Center of Engineering and Technology and Shenzhen Bus Group.