On October 10, four Chinese ministries — the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, and the State Administration for Market Regulation — jointly released a draft notice on strengthening the management of automotive product innovation design and R&D test verification, targeting the industry's widespread problems of slashed testing and disorderly innovation.
The draft bans fully concealed door handles and prohibits folding or flexible displays. Environmental-adaptability verification must last no less than one year, and reliability verification tests must cover no less than 30,000 kilometers. From January 1, 2027, newly declared vehicles with innovative designs must submit complete technical parameters; those with insufficient test verification or falsified data will be denied product announcement. Already-announced models must submit supplementary materials before July 1, 2027, or face production suspension and recall if safety hazards exist. Automakers are also barred from false, exaggerated or misleading marketing and from inducing drivers to neglect safe-driving responsibility.
A People's Daily commentary weighed in with the line "a car's brake pedal should never 'break' during driving," stressing that safety is an insurmountable red line for the auto industry. Beijing Hyundai's general manager had earlier complained that some brands skip necessary experiments to chase launch speed, leaving consumers as "test drivers." On October 11, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers formally voiced firm support, urging the whole industry to abandon irrational innovation gimmicks and shore up R&D verification weaknesses.
Source: People's Daily / MIIT / Global Times / CAAM
