The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has convened a key forum with leading automotive manufacturers, outlining critical measures to enhance vehicle safety standards and regulatory compliance.

A key meeting was held by the MIIT's First Department of Equipment Industry, focusing on improving competition order within the automotive sector, ensuring production consistency and product quality/safety, and conducting risk assessments and inspections.

The meeting emphasized that manufacturers must firmly implement national policy directives, resist irrational competition, strengthen product testing and safety evaluations, and uphold the baseline for production consistency and quality safety.

Firstly, companies are required to conduct thorough safety risk investigations, systematically identifying issues within their own operations and key suppliers regarding production consistency, reliability, durability, and new technology validation, followed by comprehensive rectification and enhanced supply chain management.

Secondly, manufacturers must bolster innovation design testing and validation, fully assess associated safety risks, prudently promote the application of new vehicle technologies, ensure compliance with national standards and health/safety requirements, strictly fulfill disclosure obligations, and avoid exaggerated or false advertising.

Thirdly, there must be a strengthened focus on safety assessments for combined driver-assistance and autonomous driving functions. Companies are to further enhance their capabilities in functional safety, expected functional safety, cybersecurity, data security, and software updates, while improving monitoring and response to safety incidents.

The meeting underscored that automotive companies must firmly adopt a "safety first, quality supreme" philosophy, earnestly shoulder the responsibility for product quality and public safety, and manage risks across design validation, manufacturing, and after-sales service to protect consumer rights.

Moving forward, the MIIT, in collaboration with other departments, will intensify efforts to ensure production consistency and quality improvement for road motor vehicles, address prominent issues, strengthen review and testing for innovative designs, conduct inspections on manufacturers' safety assurance capabilities and production consistency, and enhance the management of vehicle inspection agencies. Companies and agencies found non-compliant will face serious legal and regulatory consequences to firmly safeguard vehicle product safety.

Representatives from the MIIT's First Department of Equipment Industry, the Equipment Industry Development Center, and major automotive manufacturers attended the meeting.