On August 4, China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) published **GB 44721—2026, *Intelligent Connected Vehicles — Safety Requirements for Autonomous Driving Systems*, which takes effect on July 1, 2027. It upgrades the recommended standard GB/T 44721—2024 into a mandatory national standard, filling a two-year regulatory gap by establishing China's first unified safety access baseline for high-level autonomous driving.
Scope
- Applies to M-category (passenger) and N-category (goods) vehicles equipped with L3 (conditional automation) or L4 (high automation) driving systems.
- Automated parking is excluded.
- Original article: https://www.ithome.com/0/985/665.htm
- Policy interpretation: https://www.cnr.cn/jingji/ycbd/20260804/t20260804_527747053.shtml
- Corporate feedback: https://www.ithome.com/0/986/180.htm
The Core Shift: Responsibility Moves to Automakers
CAE academician Li Jun summarized the essence: the responsible party shifts from the driver to the automaker; certification shifts from the 'three major tests' to full safety argumentation; and oversight shifts from one-time pre-market approval to continuous, full-lifecycle certification. In practice, automakers must maintain complete safety archives, bear lifelong safety responsibility, and retain on-road data as evidence.
This pairs with the 2025 conditional market access granted to two L3 models (the AITO M9 and Mercedes-Benz Drive Pilot's China version) — products were allowed first, and the mandatory standard follows in 2027 with a one-year buffer.
Four Key Provisions
1. Full-lifecycle safety responsibility: Automakers must build capabilities across four dimensions — safety policy, risk management, safety assurance, and safety improvement — with simulation, closed-course, and road testing all mandatory. 2. Minimum dynamic driving task capability: The system must be at least as safe as a competent and attentive human driver, must not impose unreasonable risk on other road users, and must define and execute Minimal Risk Maneuvers (MRM). 3. Human-machine interaction and disclosure: Ready/active/exit states must be explicitly indicated; L3 systems must monitor driver takeover readiness; automakers must inform users via official websites, in-vehicle terminals, etc., about what the vehicle can and cannot do. 4. Multi-dimensional testing: A three-part system of enterprise capability assessment, safety archive review, and confirmation testing.
Relation to the UN ADS GTR
In June, the UN Automated Driving Systems Global Technical Regulation (ADS GTR), led by China, was published. GB 44721—2026 is stricter in classification, user disclosure, and standardized test scenarios, and is described by state media as better tailored to Chinese road conditions. Chinese OEMs going overseas can therefore use their domestic mandatory standard as an export compliance justification, not merely as local-market proof.
Industry Timing
Huawei InVition confirmed on August 5 that it completed China's first L3 model access pilot validation (reported by IT Home). Leading players are positioning a year ahead of enforcement; laggards have 12 months to build compliant systems or risk being squeezed out.
Underappreciated Impact: OTA Under Scrutiny
The most easily overlooked requirement is that every OTA software update counts as a major change** and must be documented as safety evidence. This pits rapid iteration against safety compliance for the first time — the practice of treating OTA as a marketing tool ends here. Deployment pacing for VLA models, world models, and in-vehicle large models will be recalibrated by compliance review, structurally favoring head players with full data closed loops and compliance systems, while burdening smaller players relying on off-the-shelf models.
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