China's industry ministry to expand connected-car use cases, cautiously pilot road access
In short
Vice Minister Xin Guobin of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said on 21 October that the ministry will steadily expand intelligent connected vehicle scenario applications and cautiously advance pilots for vehicle access and road use. He spoke at the opening of the 2026 World Intelligent Connected Vehicles Conference in Beijing. A ministry department head said the next day that autonomous driving is about to enter a commercial rollout stage.
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Xin Guobin, vice minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said on 21 October that China's intelligent connected vehicle industry has achieved phased results. He said the ministry will deepen cross-sector collaboration, expand scenario applications steadily and in an orderly way, cautiously advance pilots for vehicle access and road use, and speed up large-scale demonstrations in key autonomous driving scenarios. Xinhua reported from Beijing that he spoke at the opening of the 2026 World Intelligent Connected Vehicles Conference, which opened in the city that day. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 , 7 ]
Xin said the industry is in a critical window in which technology work and commercial rollout proceed in parallel. He was quoted as saying that as connected vehicles move into real-world scenarios, higher demands are placed on the safety of products, system reliability, cross-domain governance and alignment with international rules. He said China will keep putting safety first and driving innovation, and will promote innovation and high-level opening up while holding the safety bottom line. [ 2 , 3 , 5 , 6 ]
On technology, the ministry will back leading companies in forming innovation consortia in areas including energy power, smart chassis and intelligent connectivity, to build a new-generation technology system. China News Service added that this includes stronger basic research and common platforms. The ministry will also upgrade connected infrastructure and carry on "vehicle-road-cloud integration" pilots. [ 2 , 3 , 5 , 6 , 7 ]
On governance, the ministry will push implementation of the mandatory national standard for autonomous driving and speed up standards for automated parking, operation monitoring and data security. It will continue a special action on vehicle quality and further regulate market competition. China News Service added that the ministry will speed up rules on management of innovative design and R&D testing of vehicle products, protect consumers' lawful rights, and use high-level dialogue and cooperation mechanisms to align domestic standards with international rules. [ 2 , 3 , 5 , 6 , 7 ]
China News Service quoted Xin as saying that L2 combined driver assistance has a penetration rate of more than 70% among passenger cars, and that the first L3 conditional autonomous models are in road pilots in specific areas. IT Home, citing Sina Auto, reported that Guo Shougang, head of the ministry's Equipment Industry Department I, said that as of the end of August about 61 million passenger cars had combined driver-assistance functions and about 15 million had navigation-assisted driving. IT Home also quoted Guo as saying China has issued national standards covering driver assistance, autonomous driving systems, automatic emergency braking and vehicle information security. [ 6 , 7 ]
On 22 October, CLS and 36Kr reported that Guo told the conference that driver assistance has reached large-scale use worldwide and autonomous driving is about to enter a commercial rollout stage. He was quoted as saying that autonomous driving is in a key period of moving from "usable" to "good to use". [ 8 , 10 ]
Why it matters
The statements set out the ministry's stated priorities for connected and autonomous vehicles, including standards, pilots and governance. The documents give no dates or figures for the planned pilots, so their scale is not yet known.
Key facts
- Xin Guobin, vice minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said on 21 October that the intelligent connected vehicle industry has achieved phased results. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 , 7 ]
- The ministry will expand scenario applications steadily, cautiously advance pilots for vehicle access and road use, and speed up large-scale demonstrations in key autonomous driving scenarios. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 , 7 ]
- Xin spoke at the opening of the 2026 World Intelligent Connected Vehicles Conference in Beijing. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 , 7 ]
- The ministry plans to implement the mandatory national standard for autonomous driving and speed up standards for automated parking, operation monitoring and data security. [ 2 , 3 , 5 , 6 , 7 ]
- China News Service quoted Xin as saying penetration of L2 combined driver assistance in passenger cars exceeds 70% and the first L3 conditional autonomous models are in road pilots in specific areas. [ 7 ]
- On 22 October, Guo Shougang of the ministry's Equipment Industry Department I said at the conference that autonomous driving is about to enter a commercial rollout stage. [ 8 , 10 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- Xin Guobin said the ministry will expand scenario applications steadily, cautiously advance connected-vehicle access and road-use pilots, and speed up large-scale demonstrations in key autonomous driving scenarios. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 , 7 ]
- The ministry will back leading companies in forming innovation consortia in areas including energy power, smart chassis and intelligent connectivity, and will continue "vehicle-road-cloud integration" pilots. [ 2 , 3 , 5 , 6 , 7 ]
- The ministry will push implementation of the mandatory national standard for autonomous driving and speed up standards for automated parking, operation monitoring and data security. [ 2 , 3 , 5 , 6 , 7 ]
Still unclear
- On which day Guo Shougang spoke at the conference. IT Home said he attended the opening on 21 October and released a report; CLS and 36Kr dated his remarks on commercialisation to 22 October.
- The figures of about 61 million passenger cars with combined driver assistance and about 15 million with navigation-assisted driving as of the end of August. Only IT Home gave them, citing Sina Auto's report of Guo's remarks.
- The claim that L2 penetration exceeds 70% and that the first L3 models are in pilots. Only China News Service reported it, and the other outlets did not include it.
- When autonomous driving will enter commercial rollout and how the pilots will be scaled. The documents give no dates, locations or numbers for these plans.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- CLS published Xin Guobin's remarks on 21 October, citing CCTV. [ 1 ]
- Xinhua published its report from Beijing on 21 October. [ 3 ]
- IT Home published a report adding Guo Shougang's figures on driver-assistance cars. [ 6 ]
- China News Service published its report on 21 October with the L2 and L3 figures. [ 7 ]
- CLS reported Guo Shougang's remarks at the conference on 22 October. [ 8 ]