China set a 2030 deadline for the mass rollout of self-driving vehicles, handing its automakers a state-backed timeline that Western rivals must now match.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology published the plan on Friday together with eight other departments. It covers the country’s next five-year economic cycle.
China Self-Driving Vehicles Get a State Deadline
By 2030, vehicles with autonomous driving functions should reach large-scale use. Highly automated systems should also handle expressways, urban express roads, and selected city streets.
Beijing wants those systems to beat human drivers on safety by a wide margin. Therefore, the goal stretches past adoption into liability, insurance, and public trust.
The plan sets other hard numbers, too. Passenger cars should average 3.3 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers, while battery electric models target roughly 11.5 kilowatt-hours over the same distance.
China already helps write the rulebook. It led drafting of the first global technical regulation for automated driving systems, which regulators adopted in June. Meanwhile, the plan asks for a stronger voice in international standards by 2030, echoing Beijing’s wider use of export controls as leverage.
New Energy Targets Squeeze Weaker Carmakers
New energy vehicles must reach 70% of new passenger car sales by 2030 and 40% of commercial vehicle sales. In August, they already accounted for 60.6% of the market.
However, Beijing also wants fewer players. For the first time, an auto plan writes in capacity warnings and controls. It pushes mergers and cross-province consolidation, after capacity use slipped near 70% in the first quarter.
The plan targets several Chinese automakers inside the global top 10 by sales. Suppliers face the same push, with the plan asking for Chinese parts makers inside the global top 100. Labor productivity should rise 15% against 2025 levels.
In contrast, Tesla keeps absorbing investor doubt over full self-driving progress while its rivals gain a five-year state mandate.
Chinese robotics firms rode similar state backing into public markets this year, fueling an embodied AI boom in Shanghai. The coming five years will show whether the same playbook travels onto the road.
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