China Releases Mandatory Safety Standards for Level 3 and 4 Autonomous Vehicles

China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has approved a mandatory national safety standard for Level 3 and Level 4 autonomous driving systems, scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2027. Applicable to passenger and freight vehicles, the framework establishes unified market-entry baselines, specifies dynamic driving task performance requirements, and enforces full lifecycle safety obligations for automakers. Paired with a separate standard for Level 2 driver-assist systems taking effect in January 2027, the regulations create an overarching compliance architecture for intelligent connected vehicles across China.

The new national standard removes institutional ambiguity for commercializing advanced autonomous driving in China. By defining clear capability baselines and automaker liabilities for Level 3 conditional and Level 4 high automation, regulators are shifting the domestic market from marketing-driven feature rollouts toward standardized safety and compliance.

China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has approved and issued a mandatory national standard, titled "Safety Requirements for Autonomous Driving Systems of Intelligent and Connected Vehicles," according to an official report by People's Daily. The standard is scheduled to formally take effect on July 1, 2027. The framework establishes a unified market-entry threshold for vehicles equipped with Level 3 (conditional automation) and Level 4 (high automation) systems. It applies to passenger vehicles (Category M) and freight vehicles (Category N), though automated parking systems are excluded from its scope. Under the rules, an autonomous driving system must perform dynamic driving tasks at a safety level that is at least equivalent to that of a qualified, attentive human driver, while avoiding unreasonable safety risks for passengers and other road users. Regulators have also placed comprehensive safety obligations on vehicle manufacturers. Automakers are required to maintain safety management systems covering product design, manufacturing, and post-deployment operations across four dimensions: safety policy, risk management, safety assurance, and continuous safety improvement. In addition, manufacturers must validate system performance through simulation, closed-course testing, and real-world road trials that meet prescribed operational conditions. The release follows the rollout in late June of another mandatory national standard governing Level 2 combined driver-assistance systems, which takes effect on January 1, 2027. That standard explicitly stipulates that drivers retain full driving responsibility while operating Level 2 systems, categorizing features into basic single-lane, basic multi-lane, and navigation on autopilot (NOA) configurations. According to Cui Dongshu, Secretary General of the China Passenger Car Association, these two mandatory standards collectively build a complete regulatory framework spanning Level 2 through Level 4 automation. Industry analysts note that mandating baseline technical and safety compliance before vehicles can go on sale will likely redirect market competition from hardware specifications and urban feature rollouts toward proven safety and operational reliability.