Alibaba’s confirmation in joining the race for autonomous vehicles will move China’s biggest tech company’s competitions to a higher gear. The statement was made days after Tencent made a similar announcement.

Alibaba revealed on Tuesday it had been developing self-driving vehicle technology, conducting regular road tests and has the capability to conduct trials on open roads. The company told China Daily it was making “rapid progress.”

The e-commerce giant was perhaps forced into making the announcement to avoid a loss of face to its rival Tencent, which unveiled a self-driving car research and development deal with Chinese automaker FAW Group on Sunday.

Unverified reports last November had already suggested Tencent was working on autonomous cars, and the company released footage of a self-driving car on a Beijing highway earlier this month.

Both companies are in a domestic trio race alongside Baidu, which has been openly developing its Apollo autonomous technology since 2015. The company received a license to begin test-driving its vehicles on Beijing roads in March, and carried out a 5G trial of its autonomous driving technology in Xiongan New Area.

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