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Autonomous vehicles are not broadly authorized to drive anywhere in China. China has a national, permission-based pilot for qualifying L3 and L4 intelligent connected vehicles, with operation limited to approved areas and subject to additional safeguards. Commercial passenger or freight services must also meet relevant transport-sector requirements. Driver-assistance features—even widely marketed “smart driving” or NOA systems—are a separate, driver-supervised category.

Are self-driving cars legal in China?

Some L3 and L4 vehicles may operate on public roads through China’s national access and road-use pilot, but this is not blanket nationwide authorization. The four ministries responsible for industry, public security, housing and urban-rural development, and transport established the pilot in a November 2023 notice. Its purpose includes building regulatory experience and supporting future rules and standards. A vehicle admitted to the pilot may operate only in limited areas.

That distinction matters: product access to the pilot does not mean a vehicle can drive without restriction throughout China, and permission for a vehicle does not by itself establish that its operator can run a transport business. Local rules or permissions may impose further limits.

What do driver assistance, L3 and L4 mean in this context?

The useful distinction is whether the system assists a human driver or is approved to perform the driving task under a defined automation category. A feature’s marketing name does not establish its category or permission to operate without supervision.

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Category What the cited rules establish What it does not establish
Combined driver assistance MIIT describes these systems as assisting with lateral and longitudinal vehicle control under specified conditions while the driver continuously observes traffic and controls the vehicle. It is not a driverless capability simply because a feature is called “autopilot,” “smart driving” or NOA.
L3 conditional automation L3 vehicles are within the national access and road-use pilot. MIIT said two L3 models received conditional access approvals in 2025. The approvals do not mean unrestricted use; the reported announcement did not identify the models or their individual operating conditions.
L4 high automation L4 vehicles are also within the national pilot, subject to its limited-area operation and applicable safeguards. The pilot is not evidence that L4 vehicles can operate everywhere or that all operators have transport-business qualifications.

The table reflects the categories and scope described in MIIT’s July 2 and August 4, 2026 announcements and the four-ministry November 2023 pilot notice.

How does the national pilot work?

Vehicle access and operating area

The November 2023 four-ministry notice established a process for qualifying L3 conditional-automation and L4 high-automation intelligent connected vehicles, following road testing and demonstration work. Admission is permissioned, and pilot vehicles are restricted to limited areas rather than authorized for general use nationwide.

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Commercial transport is a separate requirement

If a pilot vehicle is used to carry passengers or freight as a transport business, its operator must also satisfy the applicable transport-sector operating qualifications and management requirements. The Ministry of Transport’s December 5, 2023 safety-service guidance addresses transport operators’ safety-production systems and responsibility for safe operation in trials; it does not replace the vehicle-admission process or local permits.

Operator safeguards and incident response

The four-ministry implementation notice requires participating operators to arrange insurance and registration, monitor vehicle operation, and maintain operating safety protections. It also calls for emergency response and reporting in the event of an accident, cybersecurity or data-security event, or automated-driving-system failure. A pilot may be suspended and remediation required when a traffic violation or crash indicates a safety risk, or when a participant fails its safety or security duties.

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What changes under China’s 2026 autonomous-driving safety standard?

MIIT announced on August 4, 2026 that mandatory standard GB 44721—2026, “Safety Requirements for Automated Driving Systems for Intelligent and Connected Vehicles,” had been approved and published. It is scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2027, so it is published but not yet in force as of October 4, 2026.

  • Scope: L3 and L4 automated-driving systems fitted to M- and N-category vehicles. Automatic parking is excluded.
  • Manufacturer responsibilities: Manufacturers must maintain safety capabilities across the system lifecycle.
  • Validation: The standard calls for validation through simulation, track testing and road testing.
  • Driving-task safety: When the system performs the dynamic driving task, its safety level must be at least that of a qualified and attentive human driver, and it must not pose unreasonable safety risks to users or other road users.
  • Risk response: The standard requires minimum-risk strategies.

These requirements set a safety framework; they do not, by themselves, expand a vehicle’s authorized operating area or replace pilot admission and transport qualifications.

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What rules apply to driver-assistance systems?

Driver assistance has a separate mandatory standard, GB 47955—2026, covering combined driver-assistance systems. MIIT published it on June 27, 2026 and scheduled it to take effect on January 1, 2027. In MIIT’s description, the systems assist with lateral and longitudinal control in specified operating conditions while the driver continuously observes traffic and controls the vehicle. The continuing driver role is the key difference from the L3/L4 pilot category.

MIIT reported in 2026 that combined driver-assistance functions had reached 70% penetration among new passenger-vehicle models, and that more than 30% of passenger-car models were equipped with NOA. These ministry-reported figures concern model or feature penetration, not the number of autonomous vehicles operating on public roads. MIIT’s announcement did not specify an exact measurement period or methodology, so the percentages should not be treated as a count of vehicles, rides or driverless deployments.

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How advanced is China’s deployment?

The official indicators show progress in two different areas: MIIT reported conditional access approvals for two L3 models in 2025, while its 2026 market figures describe the spread of driver-assistance features among passenger-car models. Neither measure establishes broad L3/L4 commercial availability. The approvals are conditional, and the assistance figures do not count autonomous-vehicle operations.

The cited official material establishes regulatory categories, pilot safeguards and safety-standard requirements, but it does not provide a comparable dataset for ranking operators by fleet size, rides, miles or safety. A robotaxi service should therefore be assessed by its automation category, human-supervision requirements, permitted area, vehicle access status, operator qualifications, and safety arrangements—not by equating a pilot announcement or a driver-assistance penetration figure with unrestricted deployment.

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