On April 15, 2026, the Science and Technology Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) issued notice to call for public comments on the final draft for review on the mandatory national standard Intelligent and connected vehicle — Safety requirements of combined driver assistance system (hereinafter referred to as “the Standard”), and the public consultation period will last from April 16 to April 22 of 2026.

This Standard specifies safety requirements and conformity of type for basic single‑lane combined driver assistance systems, basic multi‑lane combined driver assistance systems, and pilot combined driver assistance systems for intelligent and connected vehicles, and describes the corresponding inspection and test methods. This document applies to vehicles of categories M and N equipped with basic single‑lane combined driver assistance systems, basic multi‑lane combined driver assistance systems, or pilot combined driver assistance systems.

The main contents of the Standard mainly include safety requirements for pilot combined driver assistance systems, basic single‑lane and multi-lane combined driver assistance systems. It also covers driver information, system suppression, proving ground test methods, road test methods, conformity of type, and implementation of the standard, as well as several normative annexes (including a table mapping clauses to tests, simulation test credibility assessment requirements, functional safety and safety of the intended functionality requirements and description requirements, combined driver assistance safety assurance requirements, and data recording requirements).

The combined driver assistance system is defined in the Standard as: a system composed of hardware and software that, within its operational design conditions, continuously executes both lateral and longitudinal motion control of the vehicle as part of the dynamic driving task, and possesses the capability for appropriate object and event detection and response corresponding to the executed lateral and longitudinal motion control. The increasing penetration rate of such systems, while improving driving experience, has also led to a series of traffic accidents due to insufficient system capability and misuse by drivers, attracting widespread concern from all sectors of society. Therefore, it is considered as an urgent need to further develop relevant standards to constrain the performance of combined driver assistance systems, enhance product safety capabilities, reduce safety accidents caused by product deficiencies, help improve overall road traffic safety in China, and provide technical support for relevant industry management. Therefore it is of significance within the country’s ICV standard system, and multiple stakeholders have participated in the formulation of the Standard, including but not limited to Chinese new energy enterprises such as BYD, Xpeng and Nio etc. MNCs and top global automotive manufacturers such as BMW, Tesla and Volkswagen have also listed as main drafters. Other key drafters include national testing and research institutions, e.g.: China Automotive Technology and Research Center Co., Ltd., the Equipment Industry Development Center of MIIT etc., demonstrating a variety and rather wide coverage.

SAC/TC114/SC34 (Intelligent and Connected Vehicle), the TC in charge of the Standard, recommended the Standard to be implemented on January 1, 2027. The TC also made suggestions on the transition arrangements for the mandatory requirements:

-   For new vehicle types approved for production: from the implementation date, they shall comply with all requirements except certain data recording provisions, and shall fully comply with all requirements from the 13th month after the implementation date.

-   For vehicle types already approved for production: from the 13th month after the implementation date, they shall comply with all requirements except certain data recording provisions, and shall fully comply with all requirements from the 25th month after the implementation date.

Foreign stakeholders are advised to notice that, for implementation, it is also required for manufacturers to provide data reading methods, access to data reading tools, and publicly available data reading guidance manuals to ensure that data can be read independently by third parties, starting from the actual implementation date.

In the meantime, the notice also calls for comments on the official English translation draft of another mandatory national standard GB 44497-2024 Intelligent and Connected Vehicle - Data Storage System for Automated Driving, which has come into force on January 1, 2026. It specifies the technical requirements, test methods and the determination of the same type of the data storage system for automated driving (DSSAD) of intelligent and connected vehicles, and it applies to the vehicles of Categories M and N with regard to their DSSAD.

It is suggested for foreign stakeholders to closely observe the progress of the Standard, and assess potential compliance risks to see if any necessary actions are needed. These two standards are also solid reference materials for research and understand the principles of ICV regulatory framework of China.