by PENG Peng
China has issued its first official license plate dedicated to L3 conditional autonomous driving, signaling a regulatory shift from road testing toward early-stage deployment of advanced autonomous driving vehicles.
The license plate was granted on Dec 20 in Chongqing to Changan Automobile, one of China's major state-owned automakers, according to the company and local traffic authorities.
L3, or conditional automation, allows a vehicle to handle driving tasks under limited conditions, while requiring the human driver to take over when prompted.
The move follows an announcement on Dec 15 by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), which cleared the country's first batch of L3 passenger vehicles for pilot road use. Two models, designed for urban congestion and highway scenarios, will operate in designated areas of Beijing and Chongqing, marking China's transition from testing to early-stage deployment.
Changan's approved vehicle is a battery-electric sedan capable of single-lane autonomous driving on highways and urban expressways in traffic congestion scenarios, with a maximum operating speed of 50 km/h. Use of the system is currently restricted to selected expressway sections in Chongqing.
The second approved model, from BAIC's Arcfox brand, supports similar single-lane autonomous driving functions at speeds of up to 80 km/h and will be piloted on designated expressway corridors in Beijing.
Changan said it began developing driver-assistance technologies in 2014 and launched L3-focused research in 2017. The company completed regulatory testing and safety assessments earlier this year and said its L3 system has accumulated more than 5 million kilometers of testing on public roads. It received formal product approval on Dec 15, ahead of the issuance of the special L3 license.
Other Chinese automakers are pursuing similar pilots. XPeng has obtained an L3 road-testing license in Guangzhou and has started regular testing on approved high-speed routes. Huawei-backed automotive brands have launched internal L3 testing in Shenzhen, working with local authorities to collect real-user data. BYD said it has completed more than 150,000 kilometers of L3 road testing in Shenzhen across conditions including rain, night driving and construction zones.
Despite the regulatory progress, industry participants caution that L3 approvals remain limited in scope, with current pilots confined to specific vehicles, road sections and operating conditions. Wider deployment will depend on further safety validation, liability frameworks and the gradual expansion of approved operating areas.
