July 2 – According to a notice on the official website of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), the mandatory national standard "Intelligent Connected Vehicles – Safety Requirements for Combined Driving Assistance Systems" (GB 47955-2026) has been officially released. The standard was developed and administered by MIIT, and approved for release by the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) and the Standardization Administration of China (SAC). It is scheduled to officially take effect on January 1, 2027.

The following is the original text from MIIT:

On June 27, 2026, the mandatory national standard "Intelligent Connected Vehicles – Safety Requirements for Combined Driving Assistance Systems" (GB 47955-2026), developed and administered by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, was approved for release by the State Administration for Market Regulation and the Standardization Administration of China, and is scheduled to officially take effect on January 1, 2027.

A combined driving assistance system refers to a system that, under the premise that the driver continuously monitors the traffic situation and controls the vehicle, assists the driver in performing both lateral and longitudinal control of the vehicle under specified design operating conditions. In recent years, the deepening advancement of a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation has driven profound changes in automotive product forms, usage models, and business models, ushering China's intelligent connected vehicle industry into a high‑speed development "window period." Since 2026, the penetration rate of new passenger cars equipped with combined driving assistance functions in China has reached 70%, among which the penetration rate of models equipped with Navigation Pilot Assist (NOA) exceeds 30%. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology places great emphasis on the development of the intelligent connected vehicle industry. It has successively issued two editions of the technical standard system for intelligent connected vehicles, and has released and implemented a number of important and urgently needed standards, including those for information security, software updates, and autonomous driving data recording systems. On the basis of previously issued recommended national standards for combined driving assistance systems such as single‑lane driving control and multi‑lane driving control, MIIT, starting in 2024, organized the National Technical Committee of Auto Standardization to initiate the development of the mandatory national standard "Intelligent Connected Vehicles – Safety Requirements for Combined Driving Assistance Systems."

The "Intelligent Connected Vehicles – Safety Requirements for Combined Driving Assistance Systems" is grounded in China's industrial development and regulatory needs, while balancing technical feasibility, product compatibility, and practical operability. It proposes a safety indicator system that is clear in requirements, comprehensive in scope, and adapted to national conditions. First, it fully considers different product forms and technical routes, and sets forth applicable safety requirements for three categories of combined driving assistance system products: basic single‑lane, basic multi‑lane, and navigation pilot assist. Second, in light of China's road traffic characteristics, it establishes baseline requirements for ensuring the safe operation of combined driving assistance systems from the perspectives of functional requirements, data recording, and vehicle manufacturer safety assurances. Third, taking into account the core positioning of the system as "assisting" the driver, it specifies requirements for human‑machine interaction, user instructions, user training, and user operation, thereby providing a fundamental guarantee for proper coordination between the user and the system. Fourth, in line with China's actual industry management needs, it constructs a multi‑level evaluation methodology including field tests, road tests, and document inspections, to comprehensively examine the safety of the system.

At the international regulatory level, the United Nations World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29) issued in March 2024 the technical regulation "Uniform Provisions Concerning the Approval of Vehicles with regard to Driver Control Assistance Systems (DCAS)" (UN R171), and completed its first revision in March 2025, setting forth uniform technical requirements in terms of functional requirements, human‑machine interaction, and fault response, while also specifying supporting test and verification methods, in‑service supervision, and certification procedures. Compared with UN R171, the Chinese standard imposes more detailed technical requirements on system design operating range, functional requirements, driver status monitoring, and user notification, while also adding certain field test scenarios and corresponding test procedures and pass criteria, and specifying the inspection and test methods that align with the technical requirements. While maintaining consistency with the core technical content, it is better adapted to China's complex road traffic environment and actual industry management needs.

The release and implementation of "Intelligent Connected Vehicles – Safety Requirements for Combined Driving Assistance Systems" establishes clear and unified safety specifications for combined driving assistance systems, which is of great significance for improving the safety level of intelligent connected vehicles and ensuring the healthy and sustainable development of the industry. In the next steps, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will conscientiously carry out the promotion and implementation of the standard, strengthen the access management of intelligent connected vehicle products, further enforce the primary responsibility of enterprises for safety, and ensure the safe and compliant application of combined driving assistance systems. At the same time, it will accelerate the release and implementation of other mandatory national standards such as those for autonomous driving systems, promote the establishment of a comprehensive intelligent connected vehicle standard testing and regulatory system, accelerate the industrialization of autonomous driving technology, and lead the high‑quality development of China's intelligent connected vehicle industry.

Source: MIIT