China’s iconic Red Flag, the vehicle of choice of former revolutionary leader, is going hands-free. Chinese tech giant Baidu said on Thursday it would launch a fully autonomous passenger car next year in a partnership with Hongqi, or Red Flag, the car brand long favoured by China’s political elite.

Hongqi, owned by carmaker China FAW Group Corp, is widely regarded as a symbol of China’s early communist revolutionary elite, including Mao and Deng Xiaoping, who rode the luxury sedan in the 1960s and 1970s.

Baidu said it will produce a limited number of fully automated level four Hongqi vehicles in 2019 for a pilot operation, before wider release in 2020. Level four means they require no human intervention during autonomous driving in most conditions, said Baidu Chief Executive Robin Li and FAW Chairman Xu Liuping at an event held to announce the plan.

Volvo Cars and Baidu are joining forces to develop robotaxis in China, set to become the world’s top market for driverless vehicles.

Baidu has previously unveiled fully autonomous buses and trucks, but the Hongqi car marks a major push into self-driving vehicles for public use. The car it showed off on Thursday was white sports utility vehicle with a large sensor on its roof.

The tech firm is leading the charge in China's effort to build autonomous cars with strong backing from the Chinese government, which named Baidu - whose main business is internet search - as one of four national champions in artificial intelligence (AI).