China has taken a significant step toward commercialising higher-level autonomous driving. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, together with the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, and the Ministry of Transport, recently issued a notice on pilot programmes for the admission and road trials of intelligent connected vehicles, according to Pacific Automotive.
The notice allows vehicles equipped with Level 3 (L3) and Level 4 (L4) autonomous driving functions, as defined by the national standard GB/T 40429-2021, to operate on designated roads within limited pilot zones. This marks a shift from earlier testing phases, which were largely confined to closed or controlled environments.
What changes from L2 to L3 and L4
The key difference between L2 and L3 lies in the role of the driver. Under China's classification, a driver in an L3 vehicle becomes a "dynamic driving task fallback user" rather than a conventional driver. They must be ready to take over when the system requests it, and once they do, they become an ordinary driver responsible for the vehicle's safety. In L4 vehicles, the system can handle risk reduction on its own if the driver does not respond to an intervention request, and the vehicle may even omit a driver's seat or manual controls entirely.
Currently, China's traffic law prohibits drivers from taking both hands off the steering wheel, forcing automakers to install "hands-off warning" systems that disable driver assistance features if warnings are ignored. Yet many production models already possess the technical capability for L3 driving, the report notes. At this year's Guangzhou auto show, BMW stated it is ready to deploy L3 features in China once regulations permit.
According to the latest MIIT data, China has opened more than 20,000 kilometres of test roads for intelligent connected vehicles, and a number of products have undergone extensive R&D testing, with some ready for mass production.
Pilot rules and liability
The notice is not a blanket approval for consumer vehicles. It targets mobility service operators, including automakers and joint ventures with ride-hailing companies, that apply to run autonomous taxis or buses in designated areas. Approved applicants must purchase sufficient insurance, monitor vehicle operations, and file incident reports within two hours of an accident, along with at least 20 seconds of video footage from before and after the event. Pilot vehicles must display conspicuous markings to alert other road users and be staffed by safety drivers with at least three years of driving experience and specialised training.
The accompanying implementation guide clarifies liability: when the autonomous function is active, the intelligent connected vehicle operator bears responsibility; when it is not active, the driver or other at-fault party is liable under existing rules. Until formal traffic regulations are revised, ordinary drivers are still not permitted to remove their hands from the wheel.
The move is widely seen as a boost for the autonomous driving industry, which has been waiting for clearer regulatory pathways. The notice explicitly aims to accumulate management experience to support revisions of laws, regulations, and technical standards. With Tesla reportedly preparing to bring its FSD system, which the report describes as having near-L4 capability, to China, the combination of policy support and advanced software could accelerate the domestic autonomous driving sector's next wave of growth.
