China makes L3/L4 autonomous-driving safety standard mandatory from 1 July 2027

China has approved a binding national standard for Level 3 and Level 4 automated driving, making safety certification a market-access requirement from 1 July 2027 and setting a global precedent.

This article was drafted with AI assistance from multiple sources and was reviewed and approved by a human editor before publication.

China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has announced a mandatory national standard for the safety of vehicles with Level 3 and Level 4 automated driving systems. The standard, designated GB 44721-2026, was published on 30 July 2026 and takes effect on 1 July 2027. It applies to passenger cars and commercial vehicles of classes M and N, but excludes automated parking systems.

This is China's first binding national norm for conditional and highly automated driving, upgrading the voluntary GB/T 44721 of 2024 into a compulsory requirement. The move means that any automaker – domestic or foreign, including VW, BMW, Mercedes, and Audi – must meet the standard to keep their vehicles sellable in the world's largest car market.

The standard requires an automated driving system to achieve a safety level at least equivalent to that of a qualified and attentive human driver, and to pose no unreasonable safety risks to occupants or other road users. Safety mechanisms must cover the entire product lifecycle, from development and manufacturing through operation. Testing must include simulation, closed-track tests, and public road tests during development and verification phases.

For Level 3 systems, which can temporarily take over driving but require the driver to be ready to intervene, the standard mandates monitoring of whether the driver is ready to take over at any time. Level 4 systems, which drive completely by themselves in defined areas such as parking garages or city districts, are not subject to the same extent of driver-readiness monitoring. The standard also requires improved capabilities in dynamic driving tasks, human-machine interaction, and driver notifications, as well as safe procedures for activating and deactivating automated driving, including a mandatory deactivation override.

A key provision is the 'minimal risk maneuver': if a Level 3 driver fails to respond to a takeover request, the vehicle must bring itself to a safe state through controlled deceleration and stop. Manufacturers are also required to inform buyers of the automation level, operational design domain, and limitations, and to prevent improper use or misuse of the technology.

Certification involves a three-stage procedure: manufacturer testing, a safety dossier, and a confirmation test.

The announcement comes after a fatal crash in March 2025 involving a Xiaomi car in assisted driving mode, which killed three young people and prompted Beijing to warn automakers. The new standard is also stricter than the global technical regulation (ADS GTR) adopted in Geneva in June 2026 with China's support, and it turns that global framework into a binding national admission basis. The standard takes effect on the same date as China's regulation on physical controls.

While China pushes ahead, other jurisdictions have taken different paths. In Europe, Level 3 approval is governed by UN regulation R157, under which Mercedes was the first to gain approval for its Drive Pilot system in 2022, operating in Germany only in traffic jams up to 95 km/h. Level 4 is regulated in the EU via regulation 2022/1426. Germany created a legal framework for Level 4 in defined operating areas in 2021, yet Daimler Truck plans to launch autonomous trucks from 2027 in the United States, citing the lack of a legal framework in Germany. Meanwhile, Chinese companies are testing robotaxis abroad: SAIC is testing in several countries, and WeRide launched the first robotaxi in Denmark.