Baidu's Li: Self-driving vehicles used commercially in 3-5 years

Large-scale commercial use of self-driving technology may become a reality sooner than expected, according to search giant Baidu Inc.

"It may take three to five years to put fully autonomous-driving vehicles on truly open roads," Baidu Chairman and CEO Li Yanhong - also known as Robin Li - said on Thursday. Li, also a member of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, spoke on the sidelines of the CPPCC's closing meeting.

Miao Wei, minister of industry and information technology, said in an earlier interview that it would take eight to 10 years before self-driving vehicles are available for large-scale commercial operations.