China Orders Vehicle Inspectors to Tighten Smart-Driving Safety Checks

China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has instructed vehicle inspection and testing institutions to tighten safety evaluations for advanced vehicle features, according to state media reports. At an August 4 symposium, officials from MIIT's First Department of Equipment Industry ordered testing bodies to vet risks in 'radical' innovative designs, evaluate combined driver-assistance and autonomous driving safety, and reject irrational price competition. The regulator warned that non-compliant testing facilities will face joint inter-agency punishments as China steps up production consistency checks across the automotive sector.

As intelligent connected vehicles and assisted driving technologies rapidly proliferate in China's competitive automotive market, regulatory focus is shifting toward testing institutions acting as the first line of defense. By targeting aggressive vehicle designs and demanding rigorous safety evaluations for smart driving systems, Chinese regulators aim to ensure automakers do not sacrifice vehicle safety and testing integrity in the race to deploy new technologies.

China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has called on road motor vehicle inspection and testing institutions to significantly elevate their quality control standards and tighten safety evaluations for advanced vehicle features, according to reports published by state media outlets Xinhua and People's Daily. During a dedicated symposium held on August 4 and organized by MIIT’s First Department of Equipment Industry, government officials instructed testing agencies to firmly act as the primary safety "gatekeepers" for China's vehicle market. Regulators explicitly ordered these institutions to strengthen their ability to identify and perform test verifications on potential risk hazards stemming from "radical" innovative vehicle designs. Furthermore, the ministry emphasized that testing organizations must conduct far more rigorous safety assessments of both combined driver-assistance features and autonomous driving systems before products reach consumers. To protect the sector's technical credibility, MIIT instructed testing bodies to resolutely resist irrational commercial competition, such as price wars that lead to compromised inspection standards. Testing facilities were urged to initiate comprehensive self-inspections, systematically search for vulnerabilities in their existing procedures, and promptly implement operational rectifications. The ministry noted that strict quality control measures must be enforced across all key operational links, including sample vehicle tracking, staff administration, and testing process management. The ministry also encouraged testing institutions to leverage their technical expertise by actively participating in the formulation and revision of industry standards and national regulations. As part of this effort, officials called for accelerating the development of a dedicated testing and evaluation framework tailored to intelligent connected vehicles, ensuring that testing bodies can supply objective, fair, and professional evaluation data to the broader automotive market. Moving forward, MIIT plans to work in tandem with relevant government agencies to launch dedicated campaigns focused on ensuring vehicle production consistency and overall quality enhancement. Authorities signaled that oversight and physical inspection frequency will be ramped up, warning that testing facilities found guilty of regulatory non-compliance or compromised quality standards will be subjected to joint inter-agency punishments.