China Issues Mandatory GB 44721-2026 Standard for L3 and L4 Autonomous Vehicles: Shifting Liability from Drivers to Automakers

Overview

China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) released GB 44721-2026, *Safety Requirements for Automated Driving Systems of Intelligent Connected Vehicles*, on August 4, 2026. The standard takes effect on July 1, 2027 and upgrades the previously recommended GB/T 44721-2024 into a mandatory regulation.

Scope

• Applies to M-class (passenger) and N-class (cargo) vehicles equipped with:
• L3 – Conditional Automation
• L4 – High Automation
• Excludes automated parking functions.
• Fills a long-standing regulatory gap by establishing the first unified safety baseline for high-level autonomous driving in China.

Core Shift: From Driver Liability to Automaker Lifetime Responsibility

The most consequential change is not technical but legal. According to academician Li Jun of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, automated driving systems now face three coordinated pressures:

1. Subject of responsibility: shifts from the driver to the automaker. 2. Certification method: moves from "three mandatory tests" to a complete safety argumentation. 3. Regulatory cycle: changes from a one-time pre-market approval to continuous lifecycle evidence collection.

In practice, this means that instead of consumers pursuing the driver after an incident, automakers must build and maintain a complete safety dossier, assume lifetime safety responsibility, and retain every on-road data point as potential legal evidence.

The standard complements the "conditional access permits" granted in 2025 to two L3 models (the AITO M9 and the domestic version of the Mercedes-Benz DRIVE Pilot). Product approvals lead the way, with the standard following roughly a year later for the rest of the industry.

Four Core Provisions

1. Full-Lifecycle Safety Responsibility Automakers must build capabilities across four dimensions: *safety policy, risk management, safety assurance, and safety improvement*. Testing must combine simulation + proving ground + real road — none of the three can be omitted.

2. Minimum Dynamic Driving Task Capability The autonomous system must perform at least at the level of a qualified and attentive human driver, must not pose unreasonable risk to other road users, and must implement a proper Minimum Risk Maneuver (MRM).

3. Human-Machine Interaction and Disclosure

• The system must visibly indicate the three states: *Ready / Active / Exited*.
• L3 systems must monitor driver takeover readiness.
• Automakers must additionally disclose vehicle capabilities and limitations via official websites and in-vehicle terminals.

4. Multi-Dimensional Inspection and Testing A three-pillar verification system combining enterprise capability audit, safety dossier review, and confirmation testing is required.

Alignment with the UN ADS GTR

In June 2026, China led the release of the UN Automated Driving System Global Technical Regulation (ADS GTR). The new GB standard goes further than the UN regulation in:

• Level classification
• User disclosure requirements
• Standardized test scenarios (better adapted to Chinese road conditions, per CCTV and Shanghai Securities News reporting)

This effectively means domestic standards are now feeding into the UN framework, giving Chinese OEMs an export advantage: compliance with domestic standards can serve as documentation for overseas market access rather than the other way around.

Industry Impact and OTA Compliance

• Huawei InVition confirmed on August 5 that it had completed China's first batch of L3 model access pilot verifications, validating the rollout timeline for GB 44721-2026.
• Leading players are securing a one-year head start, with smaller OEMs having a 12-month window to build compliant systems before the July 2027 deadline — otherwise they risk being cleared from the market.
• The most easily overlooked consequence: software OTA updates are now classified as "major changes". Every OTA must be retained as safety evidence. The previous practice of treating OTA as a marketing tool is over.
• Deployment of Vision-Language-Action (VLA) models, world models, and on-vehicle large models will now be re-calibrated by compliance review, structurally benefiting players with complete data-loop and compliance systems, while squeezing smaller players who rely on quickly rebranding public models.

Sources

• Original report: https://www.ithome.com/0/985/665.htm
• Policy analysis: https://www.cnr.cn/jingji/ycbd/20260804/t20260804_527747053.shtml
• Industry response: https://www.ithome.com/0/986/180.htm

Key Points

• GB 44721-2026 is the first mandatory Chinese safety standard for L3/L4 autonomous vehicles, effective July 1, 2027.
• Liability shifts from driver to automaker under a full-lifecycle responsibility model.
• Requires three-tier testing (simulation, proving ground, real road) and continuous evidence retention.
• System performance must match a competent human driver, with mandatory MRM and driver-monitoring provisions for L3.
• Tightly aligned with the UN ADS GTR led by China, supporting export competitiveness.
• OTA updates now constitute major changes requiring safety evidence, ending "OTA-as-marketing" practices and accelerating industry consolidation toward compliance-ready leaders.