China Issues Mandatory Autonomous Driving Standard, Setting Stage for L3 Mass Rollout

The new standard sets a fundamental benchmark: when an autonomous driving system handles driving tasks, its safety level must be at least equivalent to that of a competent and attentive human driver. It specifies how the system should behave in normal driving, hazardous situations, system failures, and conditions beyond its operational design domain. For example, at speeds up to 60 km/h on highways and urban expressways, the forward detection range must be at least 50 meters, while at 120 km/h it must extend to at least 130 meters, with side coverage of at least 9 meters on each side.

For drivers, the standard clarifies permitted actions and responsibilities. While L3 is active, the driver may temporarily release the steering wheel, but the system must continuously verify that the driver is seated, seatbelted, and capable of taking over. If the driver leaves the driver's position for more than one second, an intervention request must be issued. At least twice within every 30-second cycle, the system must independently confirm driver availability using at least two effective indicators, such as eye movement, head movement, body movement, voice output, or physiological characteristics. If no response, a warning is issued, and an intervention request must follow within 15 seconds. If handover fails within 4 seconds, the warning escalates with tactile alerts. If the driver never responds, the system must execute a minimal risk maneuver, aiming to change lanes and stop safely at the roadside, with deceleration typically not exceeding 4 m/s². The standard also mandates that the time from intervention request to minimal risk maneuver termination must not be less than 10 seconds, preventing abrupt "millisecond-level handoffs."

Regarding accident liability, the standard does not explicitly allocate responsibility but requires vehicles to record data on system activation, intervention requests, handovers, exits, and minimal risk maneuvers, providing evidence for determining control status and system compliance in the event of a crash.

Automakers face extensive obligations. They must establish safety management systems covering development, production, and post-delivery phases, manage suppliers, software/hardware versions, and testing, and submit to independent audits and external inspections. They must monitor real-world incidents such as collisions and minimal risk maneuver triggers, investigate problems, and implement corrective actions. A "safety archive" containing declarations, justifications, and evidence from simulation and real-world tests becomes a mandatory deliverable for L3 admission. The standard also provides residual risk reference values: collision and similar accidents below 10⁻⁴ per hour, minor injuries below 10⁻⁵, serious injuries below 10⁻⁶, and fatalities below 10⁻⁷.

Effective July 1, 2027, newly certified L3 and L4 models must comply immediately, while previously approved models have a one-year transition period until July 1, 2028. The standard was drafted with participation from major automakers including BYD, NIO, JAC, Geely, Changan, SAIC, XPeng, Li Auto, FAW, GAC, BAIC, Xiaomi Auto, and Yinwang Intelligent, signaling that L3 has moved from pilot projects to industry-wide preparation for mass production.