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China appears to be gradually easing its lockdown of Shanghai, but that won’t bring immediate relief to global supply chain congestion, according to a major shipping company.

BEIJING — China has granted Chinese internet services company Baidu and a rival autonomous car company, Pony.ai, permits to provide driverless ride-hailing services to the public in Beijing, a significant regulatory step in the country’s pursuit of driverless technology.

Congestion in the key Chinese ports of Shenzhen and Hong Kong due to COVID-19 lockdowns has risen to the highest level in five months, posing possible delays to goods heading to the U.S. this summer.

Widespread lockdowns in China akin to the measures just taken in the southern technology hub of Shenzhen could affect half of the country’s gross domestic product, with negative implications for economies elsewhere too.

Ships looking to avoid COVID-induced delays in China are making a beeline for Shanghai, causing growing congestion at the world’s biggest container port.

Beijing has applied to join an Asia-Pacific trade pact once pushed by the U.S. as a way to exclude China and solidify American dominance in the region.

The Biden administration is weighing a new investigation into Chinese subsidies and their damage to the U.S. economy as a way to pressure Beijing on trade, people familiar with the matter said.

The Meishan terminal at China’s second-busiest port reopened Aug. 25 following a two-week shutdown that further snarled already stressed shipping routes in Asia.

The partial closure of the world’s third-busiest container port is worsening congestion at other major Chinese ports, as ships divert from Ningbo amid uncertainty over how long virus control measures in the city will last.

Tesla Inc.’s aspirations in China were dealt a major blow over the weekend after the government ordered that almost all the cars it has sold in the nation — more than 285,000 of them — be fixed to address a safety issue.