China is proposing stricter vehicle design and safety rules that would ban foldable and flexible displays, restrict certain seat functions while driving and reinforce the ban on fully concealed door handles. The government’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), along with three other ministries, released a draft on Saturday to strengthen vehicle approval processes and mitigate safety concerns associated with the latest developments in the automotive industry.
The idea is to make sure that cutting-edge car modifications are properly tested before hitting the market. The draft also includes tougher rules for driving assistance systems, smart cockpits and software updates. Public comments on the proposed rules will be accepted until 10 November, the government said.
The proposed rules reiterate the existing prohibition on fully concealed door handles that China already has. are required to have mechanical door handles on both the inside and outside, according to the MIIT-mandated national safety standard published on 2 February. The standard will come into effect on 1 January 2027, and previously approved models will have until January 2029 to undergo the necessary modifications.
The technical guidelines accompanying it would stipulate that door handles have mechanical backups and sufficient space for users to use them. Soft-close doors would have to be fitted with anti-pinch protection and also have a manual opening device in case of a power failure or malfunction.
The draft aims to ban foldable and flexible screens in cars. would also have to evaluate the driving safety, reliability and crash safety of their central infotainment screens, large displays and complex head-up displays.
Technical measures would have to be installed on the seats to ensure that they cannot be used in zero-gravity, swivel or seat-to-bed modes during a vehicle’s active movement. Some of the most important functions, such as lights, windscreen wipers, and defogging, would need physical controls as well as digital interfaces.
The proposal also prevents passengers from directly controlling major safety functions such as doors, hoods, and headlights using their voice or other new forms of interaction while the car is in motion.
The draft requires passenger cars to undergo at least 30,000 kilometres of reliability testing. The testing of environmental adaptability will be conducted for at least one year and will include two winters and one summer, with a variety of vehicles tested across several configurations.
would also have to validate driver assistance systems, autonomous driving features, smart cockpit technologies and over-the-air software updates in actual vehicles. Proposed requirements would include incoming inspections of batteries, motors and electronic controls as critical hardware and software.
As of 1 January 2027, new vehicle applications with novel design elements would require extra technical information, safety and environmental data and reports. All currently approved models would have to provide additional documentation on 1 July 2027. For models that have not been recalled but are unsafe, manufacturers would have to cease production and voluntarily recall them.
The proposal comes as MIIT Vice Minister Xin Guobin pointed out on 26 August that some vehicles, with rough designs, have been introduced without proper validation. The next day, four government agencies announced a year-long Vehicle Quality campaign to address intelligent connected vehicle safety, manufacturing capabilities, and production compliance.
The latest draft aims to introduce design validation and safety testing as part of the vehicle approval process and to stipulate that vehicle manufacturers must state the limitations of new technologies, but not overpromise their capabilities.
(With agency inputs)
