China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has introduced strict regulations for autonomous driving technologies following recent safety concerns, effectively reshaping how automakers can develop, test, and market these features.
At an April 16 meeting on intelligent connected vehicle management, MIIT officials outlined comprehensive restrictions in a document that has since circulated within the industry. The new guidelines target several key areas of autonomous driving development and marketing.
The ministry has banned the standard industry practice of using “pioneer user” beta testing programs. Officials stated that “public testing, whether with thousands or tens of thousands of users, must go through official approval channels.” This effectively ends the smartphone-inspired approach where automakers recruited early adopters to test and provide feedback on new autonomous driving features.
Automakers must now avoid terms like “automatic driving,” “autonomous driving,” “intelligent driving,” or “advanced intelligent driving” in their marketing materials. Instead, they must use “L(number) assisted driving” and strictly adhere to automation level classifications.
Functions that operate without driver supervision—including valet parking, one-touch summoning, and remote-control features—are now prohibited. The ministry emphasised that “these functions will not be approved for products” as they cannot ensure driver engagement and operational safety.
The regulations mandate that driver monitoring systems cannot be disabled and must detect when drivers remove their hands from the steering wheel. If hands-off detection exceeds 60 seconds, the system must implement risk mitigation strategies such as slowing down, activating hazard lights, or pulling over.
MIIT criticised frequent over-the-air updates, stating that one goal of the new regulations is to “reduce frequent OTA updates and improve version risk management.” Emergency updates will now require recall procedures and the State Administration for Market Regulation approval.
The new rules particularly impact companies that have positioned themselves as autonomous driving leaders, including Huawei, Xpeng, Li Auto, and Nio. They could potentially benefit traditional automakers that have taken a more cautious approach to autonomous technology.
