China's local governments have been paying more attention to the planning and construction of smart parking lots in recent years, which has allowed the sector to rise rapidly.

This year, provinces including Shandong and Shanxi and cities such as Chongqing and Wuhan have rolled out policies to promote the use of valet services, construction and renovation of smart parking lots, as well as the establishment of relevant management systems and standards.

Ganmian hutong in Beijing's Dongcheng district was once plagued by problems such as scarce parking spaces and improper parking. Thanks to a smart parking management mode, rows of cars can now be seen in roadside parking spaces, with real-time parking information displayed on the screens in the management office. People can drive unimpeded through what was once a "dead end."

"The traditional parking management mode in the hutong made problems such as appropriation of parking spaces and improper parking worse," said Gao Xuan, an executive in MicroParking (Beijing) Technology Co Ltd.

According to Gao, the company established an IT-based management system that can collect parking information and realize real-time management of parking spaces for the hutong. The system can send parking problems and relevant vehicle information to parking assistants' hand-held terminals so that they can help solve these issues.

So far, some remarkable results have been achieved, Gao said, adding that residents in the hutong can now find parking spaces when they arrive back home, and the safety of their cars can be guaranteed.

The value of China's smart parking market will continue to increase by 20 percent in the next few years, and is expected to exceed 15 billion yuan within the year, according to a report by the Qianzhan Industry Research Institute.

Meanwhile, technologies such as the Internet of Things and 5G have turned automated parking into a reality.

Last October, Bosch, which is one of the world's largest suppliers of automotive components, set up a cooperative relationship with the GAC R&D Center in automated valet parking technology.

The automated valet parking system can complete tasks including vehicle positioning and barrier identification through intelligent cameras, identify which parking spaces are available and guide drivers to the nearest ones.

Industry insiders say that the automated valet parking mode can also provide more value-added services, including automatic charging for new-energy vehicles and handover of shared vehicles, which will facilitate the construction of more smart parking lots.