China releases first national-level regulation on ICV road testing

On April 12, 2018, China's first national-level regulations on intelligent and connected vehicles road testing (hereinafter, Regulations) was jointly issued by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Ministry of Public Security and Ministry of Transport. The Regulations will come into effect from May 1, 2018. Some key points and requirements of the ICV Regulations are as follows.

Qualifications for testing applicants

The Regulations require that a testing applicant must be an independent legal entity registered in China. Besides, the applicant should possess relevant capabilities in manufacturing, technology R&D or testing of vehicles and auto parts, evaluation program for ICV autonomous driving functions, and real-time remote monitoring platform for tested vehicles as well as the ability to record, analyze and reproduce the vehicle movements.

Meanwhile, the Regulations also require the applicant have the ability to afford civil compensation if any human security or property losses are caused during the testing progress.

Requirements for testing drivers

The Regulations require that the testing drivers should be individuals authorized by the testing body and are able to handle emergencies as required.

A testing driver should hold a valid driving license with at least 3-year driving experience and match with specified conditions, such as no records of drunken driving, drug driving and fatal accidents, etc. Besides, testing drivers should have autonomous driving training experience and a technical mastery of the self-driving testing program and operation methods.

Requirements for tested vehicles

According to the Regulations, tested vehicles refer to passenger and commercial vehicles but not include low-speed vehicles and motor cycles.

Under the Regulations, tested vehicles should not be registered with the authority, while still need satisfy all statutory testing demands except for endurance. If any demands cannot be met due to the autonomous driving functions, the applicant should certify that it will not harm the security.

Tested vehicles must contain autonomous-driving and human-operation modes. Besides, the vehicles are required to be able to immediately switch from autonomous-driving mode to human-operation mode so that the testing driver can take over the operation in case of any malfunction.

Tested vehicle system should be able to monitor the vehicle status vehicle online and transform the real-time information including the control mode of the vehicle, vehicle location and vehicle speed and acceleration speed.

Apart from that, the Regulations also set requirements for the testing application and verification, testing progress as well as the dealing methods of traffic violation and accidents.