According to an announcement on the official website of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) today, the MIIT, along with the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, and the Ministry of Transport, have jointly designated nine consortiums to initiate pilot programs for intelligent connected vehicle (ICV) access and road testing.
These consortiums are composed of automotive manufacturing enterprises and user entities. The nine automotive manufacturers involved are: Changan Automobile, BYD, SAIC Motor, BAIC BluePark, GAC Motor, FAW Group, SAIC Hongyan, Yutong Bus, and NIO.
The pilot program is organized into five phases: pilot application, product access pilot, road testing pilot, suspension and exit from the pilot, and evaluation and adjustment. Currently, only the selection phase for pilot applications has been completed, which does not imply that ICVs with autonomous driving capabilities have obtained access permits or are allowed for road testing. Next, the four departments will guide the consortiums in implementing the pilot program.
Previously, the four departments jointly issued a notice to deploy and commence pilot work for ICV access and road testing. Moving forward, these departments will promote the orderly implementation of the pilot program according to overall requirements and work objectives. They will also leverage the authentic proof accumulated from the pilot to gain management experience, support the revision and formulation of related laws, regulations, and technical standards, accelerate the development of a comprehensive ICV production access and road traffic safety management system, and promote the high-quality development of China's intelligent connected new energy vehicle industry.