Draft Mandatory National Standard for Level 2 ADAS Released, Clarifying Driver Responsibility and System Safety Requirements

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has completed drafting the mandatory national standard titled "Safety Requirements for Combined Driving Assistance Systems in Intelligent Connected Vehicles" (submission draft) and will solicit public comments from April 16 to 22, 2026. The standard applies to Category M (passenger vehicles) and Category N (goods vehicles) equipped with basic single-lane, basic multi-lane, or navigation-guided combined driving assistance systems, with a proposed implementation date of January 1, 2027. The standard explicitly states that during operation of the combined driving assistance system, the driver must remain the primary agent responsible for dynamic driving tasks. To mitigate misuse risks, the standard sets forth safety requirements covering user instructions, driver training, driver state monitoring, and system deactivation mechanisms. If the system’s risk-mitigation function is triggered due to the driver disengaging from dynamic driving tasks, or if the driver exceeds the prescribed number of instances of hands-off or eyes-off driving, the system must prohibit reactivation for a specified duration. Technically, the standard establishes safety requirements regarding system functional boundaries, capability thresholds, product design, development processes, and risk management. It also creates a multi-tiered evaluation framework encompassing closed-course testing, on-road testing, and documentation review. This standard was jointly drafted by numerous enterprises and institutions, including Shenzhen Yinwang Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. (an affiliate of Huawei), Xiaomi Automobile Technology Co., Ltd., BYD Auto Industry Co., Ltd., Tesla (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., XPeng Motors, NIO, Li Auto, Geely, Changan Automobile, SAIC Motor, GAC Group, Great Wall Motor, FAW Group, Dongfeng Motor Corporation, BMW (China), Mercedes-Benz (China), Volkswagen (China), Toyota Intelligent Electric Vehicle R&D Center (China), and Robert Bosch Automotive Products (Suzhou) Co., Ltd.—comprising automakers, technology companies, and testing and certification organizations.