Automotive Product Access Management

Automotive product access management refers to the regulatory regime where the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) assesses and approves road motor vehicle products prior to market entry, evaluating compliance with safety, environmental protection, energy efficiency, and anti-theft standards in accordance with applicable laws, regulations, and technical benchmarks. Product access licensing serves as a core pillar of the "dual-access" mechanism (enterprise access + product access) established under the "Administrative Measures for the Access of Road Motor Vehicle Manufacturing Enterprises and Products" (MIIT Order No. 50), functioning as a mandatory prerequisite for automotive products to be legally launched and sold in the market.

Legal Basis and Core Framework

The primary legal foundations for product access management comprise the "Road Traffic Safety Law of the People's Republic of China", the "Administrative Measures for the Access of Road Motor Vehicle Manufacturing Enterprises and Products", and the "Provisions on the Access Management of New Energy Vehicle Manufacturing Enterprises and Products". The MIIT officially gazettes approved products for public reference via its regular "Announcement of Road Motor Vehicle Manufacturing Enterprises and Products".

The fundamental criteria of the product access review require all applicant road motor vehicle products to fully comply with technical standards governing safety, environmental protection, energy conservation, and anti-theft performance, alongside specific safety technical conditions issued by the MIIT. For new energy vehicles (NEVs), products must additionally satisfy specialised inspection items and designated standards, verified and certified by state-accredited testing institutions.

2027 Regulations: Upgraded Product Examination Standards

In January 2026, the MIIT released the revised "Requirements for the Access Examination of Road Motor Vehicle Products", which will take effect on 1 January 2027. Centred on three primary objectives—"fortifying baseline safety, adapting to industry transformation, and standardising market order"—the revised framework systematically upgrades product access standards across the board.

Reliability testing elevated to a mandatory requirement. For the first time, the new rules formally integrate reliability testing for conventional vehicles into the access review. Standard passenger cars, buses, and commercial lorries must undergo a minimum of 30,000 km in reliability verification testing based on the "Road test method for motor vehicle reliability" (GB/T 12678—2021). For electric vehicles (EVs), the mandated reliability road test distance is set at 50% of the type-approval test requirement for equivalent internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, amounting to 15,000 km. This elevates what was previously a recommended guideline into a compulsory threshold, curbing quality and safety risks caused by carmakers excessively compressing development cycles to rush products to market.

Comprehensive inclusion of intelligent connected vehicle safety. The updated review requirements introduce strict protocols for cybersecurity, data security, and over-the-air (OTA) software updates, while tightening safety assessments for models equipped with combined driver assistance and autonomous driving features. The applicable regulatory standard system has been expanded to 152 standards across six categories: 37 general safety, 25 active safety, 27 passive safety, 17 energy conservation and environmental protection, 44 new energy, and 2 intelligent connected vehicle standards. Intelligent connected vehicles and OTA updates are now formally incorporated into the statutory product definition scope.

Further refinement of technical specifications. The updated regulations tighten requirements for dimensional tolerances and critical components, while clearly defining allowable tolerance margins for nominal vehicle parameters. Technical specifications have also been added for 11 vehicle categories, including pick-up trucks and panel vans. Furthermore, enhanced application assessments have been introduced for vehicles deploying new technologies, new materials, and advanced manufacturing processes, backed by stringent requirements for safety validation, reliability testing, and operational monitoring.

Access Application Process

Product access applications are submitted online via the "Government Services Administrative Licensing Business Acceptance System" on the official MIIT portal. The MIIT engages accredited technical service bodies to conduct technical compliance assessments against relevant standards and regulations, while publishing details of applicant new models on the ministry's web portal for public feedback. The final approval decision is made by the MIIT based on technical review outcomes and public feedback, with a statutory processing timeline of 20 working days from acceptance (excluding technical evaluation duration).

Required application dossiers primarily include: detailed descriptions of vehicle models, categories, specifications, and technical features; core technical parameters (covering baseline dimensions, safety, environmental, energy efficiency, and anti-theft performance data, along with official imagery); vehicle inspection documentation (including test item summary tables, prototype vehicle documentation, and certified test reports); and proof of legal authorisation for trademark usage (for first-time submissions).

Alignment with Recall Management

Product access management works in tandem with vehicle recall governance to establish a closed-loop regulatory mechanism encompassing "pre-market prevention, in-process oversight, and post-market traceability and accountability". During access filing, manufacturers must comprehensively declare technical parameters relating to combined driver assistance systems and OTA updates, which are incorporated into Conformity of Production (COP) monitoring and officially lodged with the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) to facilitate defect investigations and recall executions. The updated framework explicitly mandates operational monitoring requirements for vehicles deploying new technologies, materials, and processes, reinforcing manufacturer accountability and pre-empting potential safety hazards.