China Writes Autonomous Driving Into National Law

China is moving autonomous-driving liability into law, and that means makers and importers answer for violations committed while the system is engaged. Evidence, data access and recall duties now sit inside every smart-EV contract, and more laws on accidents, insurance and data are coming.

The amendment had its first reading on 25 August: 9 chapters, 170 articles, most on smart driving and data. By end-June China had 476 million vehicles, 48.97 million NEVs, 567 million drivers, 70.5% L2 fitment and the first L3 road trials. Smart driving is now a compliance item.

The chapter separates autonomous vehicles, which handle all driving tasks inside their design envelope, from driver assistance. Unactivated AVs count as ordinary cars; activation outside the envelope must be impossible and tampering is banned. Compulsory insurance is coming; exporters need an ODD statement per vehicle and insurance priced into landed cost.

The liability clause changes the business: violations while the system is active fall on maker or importer, which must prove the system was not at fault. On a $100,000 smart EV, one dispute can mean months of testing, a possible recall and costs near a third of the price. Get the operating-conditions list, an incident data channel and an indemnity clause into the contract.

Act this quarter: get a written statement of design operating conditions, secure an incident data channel and add a liability clause covering resale. Do not order the next batch without a documented compliance path for your market — renegotiate now, before the new rules take effect.