The era of grandiose names and real-world tests with customers used as guinea pigs is over. China sharply reshapes autonomous driving to curb abuses and accidents.
Under the GB 47955-2026 “Safety Requirements for Combined Driving Assistance Systems of Intelligent and Connected Vehicles,” China now requires, effective January 1, 2027, that driving-assistance systems detect driver inattention and deactivate if the driver does not respond to warnings.
Exaggerated Marketing and So-Called Autonomous Driving
In recent years there has been a real race for autonomous driving among manufacturers in China. It must be acknowledged that these features have become essential to attract a hyper-connected clientele who view the car as an extension of their smartphone. And this has led authorities to reinforce the supervision of driving-assistance devices.
The March 2025 three-fatalities accident involving a Xiaomi SU7, which caused a stir in China, was probably the final trigger that led Chinese authorities to harden their initial stance regarding the so-called autonomous driving.
Until now, following in the footsteps of Elon Musk and Tesla, many manufacturers did not hesitate to talk about autonomous driving when their system was nothing more than an active cruise control with lane-keeping assist, i.e., an enhanced Level 2 (L2, according to international nomenclature) autonomous driving.
Today, 70% of new cars in China already use these combined driving-assistance systems, while assisted navigation exceeds 30%.
Brands must now avoid terms like “automatic driving,” “autonomous driving,” “smart driving,” “Autopilot,” or “advanced smart driving” in their marketing. Instead, they should use “L [number] level of assisted driving” and strictly comply with the automation-level classifications. Remember there are five levels, and only levels 4 and 5 are considered autonomous driving.
The goal is to prevent customers from thinking they have a robotaxi in hand when that is not the case. Additionally, to push this idea further, all “valet” or parking-assistant features will be banned. The era of a car that parks itself or comes to pick you up at the mall entrance from the far end of the parking lot is over.
Several Chinese brands had developed this feature and used it as a promotional tool on social networks. A feature also present in Tesla under the acronym, in keeping with Elon Musk’s childish humor, ASS (Autonomous Summon System).
If a Level 2 assistant makes the driving experience safer, it has also been accompanied by a series of traffic accidents attributed to “insufficient system capabilities and incorrect use by drivers,” according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) in a directive detailing a set of safety requirements at the design stage.
Now, as soon as it is detected that the driver has taken hands off the wheel and looked away from the road, the system must issue alerts or audible signals. If the driver does not react, the automation system must activate risk-mitigation functions to help the driver stop the vehicle or deactivate itself, according to the regulatory draft unveiled on September 17.
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