China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) today officially released the mandatory national standard “Safety Requirements for Combined Driver-Assistance Systems for Intelligent and Connected Vehicles.” This is the country’s first mandatory national standard specifically targeting L2 assisted driving. It was jointly drafted by leading industry players including Huawei, Xiaomi, BYD, and Tesla, filling a long-standing gap in safety regulations for L2 combined driver-assistance systems. The standard will take effect on January 1, 2027. From that date, any vehicle model that fails to meet the requirements will be prohibited from being sold in the domestic market. MIIT Announcement It is worth noting that China’s intelligent and connected vehicle industry has entered a critical “window period” of rapid growth. Data show that the annual penetration rate of new passenger cars equipped with L2 combined driver-assistance functions reached 66.1% in 2025. However, alongside this rising adoption, the industry has faced persistent issues such as ambiguous functional boundaries, inconsistent safety standards, and high risks of user misuse. Against this backdrop, the standard was first released for public comment in September 2025, followed by a public notice of the draft for approval in April 2026. It was finally approved and promulgated by the State Administration for Market Regulation and the Standardization Administration of China on June 27, 2026. Pilot Assist UI Page The standard was jointly drafted by more than 30 organizations, including Huawei, Xiaomi Auto, BYD, XPeng, and NIO. Its core content categorizes L2 combined driver-assistance systems into three types: Basic single-lane combined driver-assistance system – this system can only operate on Class A road environments, assisting the driver in continuously controlling the vehicle’s lateral and longitudinal movements within a selected single lane, and does not support lane-changing maneuvers. Basic multi-lane combined driver-assistance system – also limited to Class A road environments, this system assists the vehicle in completing a lane change only after the driver triggers the lane-change command. Pilot combined driver-assistance system – this has the broadest functional scope. In addition to the capabilities of the previous two categories, it must also support complex scenarios such as obstacle avoidance across lanes, intersection passage, and roundabout navigation, and can operate on both Class A and Class B road environments. Dynamic Night Pilot In terms of functional safety, the standard sets specific technical metrics: the system must be able to detect a stationary obstacle at a distance of 120 meters while traveling at 80 km/h and decelerate in a timely manner. On curved roads, the maximum lateral acceleration for M‑class vehicles shall not exceed 3 m/s², and for N‑class vehicles, not exceed 2.5 m/s². Regarding human‑machine interaction and driver monitoring, the standard requires vehicles to be equipped with a driver status monitoring system. A hand‑off warning is triggered after 5 seconds of hands being away from the steering wheel, escalating to a formal alert if not corrected within 10 seconds. A visual distraction prompt is issued after 5 seconds of the driver’s gaze leaving the road. If the system activates risk‑mitigation functions due to driver disengagement, or if repeated violations occur, the combined driver‑assistance function will be prohibited for at least 30 minutes. In addition, the standard establishes a multi‑tier evaluation framework covering field tests, road tests, and document reviews. The release of this new national standard also signifies that China’s L2 combined driver assistance has moved from a “recommended” to a “mandatory” regime, officially ushering in a new cycle with safety as the entry threshold for market access.