A Chinese billionaire is following global technology firms in eyeing the connected car market.

Billionaire Jia Yueting is kick-starting his electric-car ambition by releasing in Beijing today LeOS, a new in-car operating system with gesture- and voice-control features that would connect his companys forthcoming model with its smartphones and TV sets. Users will be allowed to remotely control their cars, stream contents from Leshis video site and ultimately achieve unmanned driving, Leshi says in a statement.

Jia, the 42-year-old chairman and founder of Leshi Internet Information & Technology Co., announced in December that the maker of Internet televisions and set-top video boxes spent the past year developing electric cars under a project called Super Electric Eco-system. Jia, who this year ranks No.78 on the China Rich List with a net worth of $ 1.9 billion, has said that he was confident Leshis cars would beat Tesla.

The [SEE] projects first stage result lies in the self-developed electric car operation system LeOS for Auto, the company says.

Global technology companies are racing to develop automobile appliances and gadgets that can be connected to the Internet. Google is reportedly planning to build Android M, the next version of its Android operating system, directly into automobiles. Apple in March launched its iOS-powered car operating system called CarPlay.

Shares of Leshi rose 3.73% to 52.59 yuan in Shen Zhen trading as of 5: 33 p.m. local time.

Leshis electric-car push also comes as the government in Beijing is encouraging more participation in new-energy vehicles to forge Chinas own electric-car brand and reduce air pollution. Authorities propose to grant more manufacturing licenses to companies other than car makers, but applicants should have more than three years of experience in product research and development.

He Yi, chief executive officer of Leshi Internet of Vehicles, said in Beijing today license application is going very smoothly.

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China's Leshi Eyes Connected Electric Car