China on Monday approved two electric sedans equipped with level-3 autonomous driving for public roads, marking the first such allowance. The models, developed by Changan Automobile and BAIC Motor's Arcfox, can operate autonomously under specific conditions in Chongqing and Beijing.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced on Monday that two electric sedan models, developed by Changan Automobile and BAIC Motor's Arcfox, have received road approval for level-3 autonomous driving capabilities. This represents China's first permission for such vehicles to operate on public roads.
The Changan model enables single-lane autonomous driving at speeds up to 50 km/h during traffic congestion and is approved for specific highway and urban expressway sections in southwest China's Chongqing. The Arcfox model is allowed to drive autonomously at up to 80 km/h on designated highway and urban expressway sections in Beijing.
Autonomous driving is categorized into six levels, from 0 to 5, with level-3 defined as "conditionally automated driving." At this level, vehicles handle dynamic driving tasks, but a human driver must remain available to intervene when necessary. In recent years, China has promoted the adoption of autonomous driving technologies. In September, it issued a work plan outlining conditional approvals for level-3 vehicle production.
This development underscores China's advancements in intelligent transportation, aiming to improve road safety and efficiency, while emphasizing the need for human oversight to maintain reliability.
