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China drafts stricter vehicle design approval rules, reaffirms concealed door handle ban

person Priya Sharma

calendar_today October 10, 2026 at 3:37 PM

schedule 5 min read

A silver BYD Sealion 05 SUV with its front door open on an auto show floor, as attendees walk past and a man in a gray suit stands nearby.

Summary

China's MIIT and three other agencies published a draft notice tightening design safety assessments for vehicle approvals, reiterating the ban on fully concealed door handles and proposing a ban on foldable and flexible displays. The proposal also targets in-motion use of features like zero-gravity seats, with public comments open through November 10.

A mandatory national standard already bans fully concealed door handles. The new draft would further link design safety assessments to vehicle approvals.

The proposal would ban foldable and flexible displays and restrict the use of features such as "zero-gravity" seats while vehicles are moving.

China is proposing tighter approval requirements for innovative vehicle designs, expanding oversight of doors, displays and seats following the release of a mandatory national standard on door handle safety.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) published the draft notice on Saturday. It was jointly drawn up with the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and the State Administration for Market Regulation.

The draft reiterates a ban on fully concealed door handles and proposes prohibiting foldable and flexible displays. Public comments will be accepted through November 10.

The door handle ban is not new. The MIIT released a mandatory national safety standard on February 2 requiring mechanical interior and exterior door handles.

That standard takes effect on January 1, 2027, with models already approved given until January 2029 to complete design changes.

The latest proposal would further integrate design safety assessments and development testing into vehicle approvals. Models that fail to undergo the required testing, are inadequately tested or are supported by falsified documentation would be denied approval.

Some manufacturers have rushed to follow product trends without sufficient testing, increasing vehicle safety and environmental risks, the 4 agencies said in the document.

The accompanying technical guidelines for innovative vehicle designs would require door handles to have mechanical redundancy and sufficient space for hand operation, with testing to verify their usability in extreme conditions and emergencies.

Vehicles with soft-close doors would need anti-pinch protection and manual opening capability during power outages or malfunctions to reduce the risk of occupants becoming trapped.

For central infotainment screens, large displays and complex head-up displays, the draft would require assessments of their impact on driving safety, reliability in extreme conditions and crash safety. Foldable and flexible displays would be prohibited.

Automakers would also have to use technical measures to prevent the use of "zero-gravity" seats, swivel seats and seat-to-bed functions while vehicles are moving.

Key driving safety functions such as lights, windshield wipers, defrosting and defogging would need physical controls alongside any virtual controls, such as touch buttons.

The draft would also prohibit anyone other than the driver from directly operating key safety functions — including doors, the hood and headlights — through voice commands or other new interaction methods while the vehicle is moving.

Starting January 1, 2027, applications for new models featuring innovative designs would need to include additional technical parameters and supporting safety and environmental validation materials.

Models featuring innovative designs that are already listed in the MIIT's catalog of approved vehicle manufacturers and products would need to submit supplementary parameters and validation materials by July 1, 2027.

Models that still lack the required submissions after the deadline and pose safety risks would have to be taken out of production immediately and voluntarily recalled. Transition periods for production and sales already specified in national standards would continue to apply.

For development testing, the accompanying technical specifications would require passenger vehicles to undergo at least 30,000 kilometers of reliability testing, with trucks and buses to follow the specifications as a reference.

Environmental adaptability testing would have to last at least 1 year and follow a severe-cold, high-temperature, severe-cold sequence described as "2 winters and 1 summer," using multiple vehicles to cover all key configurations.

Manufacturers could use alternatives such as testing in regions experiencing the opposite season or indoor environmental chambers, provided they are at least as effective as actual road testing. Tests involving combined environmental conditions that cannot be adequately replicated would still have to take place on real roads.

Combined driving assistance, autonomous driving and smart cockpit systems would need testing in actual vehicles, covering both normal use and extreme scenarios that could pose safety risks. Over-the-air (OTA) updates would also require thorough validation.

The draft would require automakers to conduct incoming inspections of key hardware and software, including traction batteries, motors, electronic controls and smart cockpit systems, rather than simply accepting suppliers' validation reports.

Marketing would also face tighter oversight. Automakers would have to accurately explain the operating boundaries and restrictions of innovative designs, without exaggerating capabilities, concealing technical limitations or encouraging drivers to neglect their safety responsibilities.

The proposal builds on China's recent push to strengthen vehicle quality oversight, adding specific approval requirements to previously announced plans for design reviews and testing.

On August 26, MIIT Vice Minister Xin Guobin said some aggressive designs had been installed in vehicles without adequate validation and that regulators would bar insufficiently tested products from entering the market.

The following day, the 4 agencies announced a 1-year vehicle quality campaign focused on safety assurance capabilities for intelligent connected vehicles, manufacturers' development and production capabilities, and conformity of production.