SHENZHEN, March 26 (Xinhua) -- China's leading electric vehicle maker BYD has inked an agreement with telecom giant Huawei Technologies to promote comprehensive strategic cooperation.

With years of technological accumulation in new energy vehicles and rail transport systems, BYD will collaborate with Huawei, a leader in AI, 5G, cloud computing and big data, to forge ahead with the transformation and upgrading of mobility services, according to the agreement signed here Monday.

The two parties will seek in-depth exchanges and collaborations on the internet of vehicles (IoV), intelligent driving, smart monorail and smart campus solutions.

Previously, a driverless monorail transit system, developed by Huawei and BYD, started operation in Yinchuan, capital of northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

Joining hands with big players in the internet and telecommunication industries has become a trend for traditional automakers.

SAIC Motor reached an agreement with Alibaba in 2014 to embed the latter's smart operating system YunOS into SAIC's Roewe cars. Other cooperative duos include Chang'an and Tencent, Dongfeng and Huawei and Ford and Baidu.