China Sets Unified Safety Standards for Autonomous Driving

China has taken a decisive step toward regulating its rapidly evolving autonomous driving sector with the release of its first mandatory national standard for L3 and L4 automated driving systems. The standard, designated GB 44721—2026 and officially approved on July 30, establishes a unified “entry threshold” for self-driving products, according to Xinhua News. It is scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2027.

A Regulatory Milestone

The new standard, titled “Safety Requirements for Automated Driving Systems of Intelligent and Connected Vehicles,” was jointly released by the State Administration for Market Regulation and the Standardization Administration of China. It represents a systematic upgrade of the 2024 recommended national standard GB/T 44721—2024, transitioning from a voluntary guideline to a mandatory requirement, as ITHome reported.

The standard applies to M-class (passenger) and N-class (freight) vehicles equipped with L3 (conditional automation) or L4 (high automation) autonomous driving systems, but does not cover automated parking systems. This marks China’s first mandatory national standard targeting these advanced automation levels.

According to an official from MIIT’s Equipment Industry Department I, the release and implementation of the standard establishes a unified safety access baseline for autonomous driving products, which is of significant importance for regulating technology research and development, improving road traffic safety, strengthening corporate safety responsibility, and safeguarding the healthy and sustainable development of the industry.

Building a Complete Regulatory Framework

The L3/L4 standard complements an earlier mandatory national standard for L2-level combined driving assistance systems (GB 47955—2026), released in June 2026 and scheduled for implementation on January 1, 2027. Together, these two standards construct a comprehensive mandatory regulatory system spanning from L2 to L3 and L4 automation levels.

Cui Dongshu, Secretary-General of the Passenger Car Market Information Joint Branch of the China Automobile Dealers Association, told Xinhua News that these two sets of mandatory national standards mark the domestic intelligent driving industry’s entry into a new stage of compliant, high-quality development. “After these two mandatory national standards are implemented, products must meet the standards before they can be marketed, which is conducive to shifting industry competition from comparing hardware parameters and the number of cities opened to competing on safety capabilities,” he said.

Key Technical Requirements

The standard builds a comprehensive safety requirement system across four dimensions:

Enterprise full-lifecycle safety assurance: Manufacturers must establish safety capabilities covering design, development, manufacturing, and post-deployment phases, addressing safety policy, risk management, safety assurance, and safety improvement. They are required to conduct simulation, track, and road testing during research and development.

Dynamic driving task execution: The automated driving system’s safety level must be at least equivalent to that of a qualified and attentive human driver. The system must not create unreasonable safety risks to users or other road users, and must execute all dynamic driving tasks when activated while identifying whether it operates within its design conditions.

Human-machine interaction and user notification: Activation and deactivation processes must be safe, with L3 systems required to include driver takeover capability monitoring. Manufacturers must clearly inform users about automation levels, capability boundaries, limitations, and user role transitions through channels including official websites and in-vehicle displays.

Multi-dimensional inspection and testing: The standard establishes an integrated testing system combining enterprise capability inspection, safety case inspection, and confirmation testing conducted by third-party institutions using track, road, and simulation methods.

The Safety Case Innovation

A notable innovation is the introduction of the Safety Case mechanism, which requires companies to systematically demonstrate the safety of their autonomous driving systems using a “claim-argument-evidence” structure. As National Business Daily explained, companies must not only state their system’s capability boundaries but also provide the logical basis and test data supporting their safety claims.

Rao Qing, Chief Solutions Architect at Momenta, told National Business Daily that the release of the mandatory national standard marks the official entry of China’s autonomous driving industry into a new stage of large-scale deployment “with safety as the bottom line and standards to follow.” He added that stricter national regulations can achieve the effect of expelling bad money and keeping good money.

Industry Implications

The standard’s impact extends well beyond regulatory compliance. Jiang Han, Senior Researcher at Pangoal Institution, told National Business Daily that this national standard sets thresholds from multiple dimensions, marking the shift of autonomous driving regulation from “conceptual loosening” to “safety hard constraints.” “The era where car companies relied on vague marketing to compete for market share is over. Future competition will inevitably shift from feature display to safety capability competition,” he said.

Jiang Han also noted that the mandatory standard will push up costs for automakers, including redundant systems, higher-computing-power chips, and full-lifecycle safety case construction. However, he pointed to BYD’s path of using large-scale procurement and economies of scale to lower intelligent driving costs, suggesting that technological iteration and scale effects will gradually amortize these costs over time.

Cui Dongshu emphasized that the standard proposes core safety benchmarks, which is conducive to dispelling the concerns of car manufacturers and insurance institutions, and clearing the institutional obstacles to the commercialization of L3 and L4 autonomous driving.

Market Context and Readiness

The regulatory framework arrives amid rapid industry growth. As of 2026, L2-level combined driving assistance penetration in new passenger vehicles reached 70 percent nationally, with NOA (Navigation on Autopilot) equipped vehicle penetration exceeding 30 percent. According to ITHome, China has issued over 20,000 intelligent connected vehicle test demonstration licenses nationwide, opened over 57,000 kilometers of test roads, and accumulated over 220 million kilometers of testing.

In December 2025, MIIT granted the first batch of conditional L3 autonomous driving vehicle access permits to Changan Deepal SL03 and BAIC Arcfox Alpha S6. Industry leaders are positioning for the new regulatory era. BYD Chairman Wang Chuanfu has stated that once L3 regulations are formally implemented, BYD can quickly launch a full series of L3-related products, while Huawei Executive Director Yu Chengdong expressed anticipation for the early arrival of domestic L3 and L4 licenses, as Economic Observer via 10jqka reported.

International Alignment

China also led the development of the United Nations Global Technical Regulation on Automated Driving Systems (ADS GTR), which was officially approved and published in June 2026. According to Jiemian News via NetEase, while maintaining consistency with the UN ADS GTR, China’s standard adds more detailed technical requirements for L3 and L4 systems, better fitting local road conditions and industry management needs.

What to Watch For

The transition period provides a runway for industry adaptation: newly type-approved vehicles must comply from July 1, 2027, while vehicles already type-approved have until the 13th month after implementation. As the industry moves toward this deadline, key questions remain about enforcement mechanisms, insurance industry adaptation, and how the standard will evolve alongside advancing technology. What is clear is that China’s autonomous driving sector is entering a new era where safety capability, not marketing hype, will determine market leadership.