China's draft traffic law would make carmakers answer for autonomous-driving violations
A revision of the Road Traffic Safety Law given a first reading on August 25 adds a chapter that shifts enforcement to the manufacturer or importer when a violation happens with the autonomous function switched on.
The State Council submitted a revision of China’s Road Traffic Safety Law to the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on August 25, and the draft received its first reading at the committee’s 24th session. Justice Minister He Rong presented the bill.
The revision adds a dedicated chapter on autonomous vehicles. According to the summary of the reading published on the NPC’s website, which is credited to the state news agency Xinhua, the draft defines both an autonomous vehicle and an assisted driving function, states that the country supports road testing, demonstration application and the driving of autonomous vehicles, and provides that where a traffic violation occurs while the autonomous driving function is activated, enforcement action falls on the manufacturing or importing enterprise rather than on the person in the vehicle.
Vehicles whose autonomous function is not activated, and vehicles fitted only with assisted driving, would continue to be handled as ordinary vehicles. The draft also adds a prohibition on handheld calls and watching video while driving.
The summary recorded 476 million motor vehicles and 567 million licensed drivers in China at the end of June 2026. The current law dates from 2004 and has been amended three times.
A first reading is not a publication: what the NPC’s website carries is a summary of the bill rather than its text, and structural details circulating elsewhere in Chinese state media, including a count of chapters and articles, appear in none of the legislature’s own documents. The draft text would normally be released later for public comment.
Source: National People's Congress · First reported by CnEVPost