General Motors and its Chinese partners (SAIC, Shanghai GM, and the Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center) on Sept. 22 opened what they say is China’s largest automotive proving ground. Located in Guangde County, Anhui, the $253 million facility allows for 67 driving conditions over 60 km (37 mi) of test roads on a site covering 5.67 km2 (2.18 mi2). The proving ground can carry out development, validation, certification, quality control evaluation, load data collection, and analysis for vehicles less than 7.5 ton (6.8 t). It can accommodate up to 140 vehicles for testing simultaneously, and about 20 million km (12.4 million mi) worth of testing is expected to be conducted annually. It contains eight specific test areas: an oval track, vehicle dynamics test area, long straightaway, ride and handling loop, noise test road, durability test area, corrosion test area, and hill test area. In addition, it has 23,000 m2 (247,569 ft2) of auxiliary space for labs, repair facilities, and private workshops.