The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) announced on October 10 that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, and the State Administration for Market Regulation, has formulated the 'Notice on Further Strengthening the Management of Innovative Design, R&D Testing, and Verification for Automotive Products (Draft for Comment).' This initiative is designed to tackle impractical innovative designs, refine the R&D testing and verification management framework, and elevate automotive product entry standards, thereby reinforcing corporate accountability for product safety. The CAAM wholeheartedly endorses this move and has called upon the entire automotive sector to collectively raise the bar for automotive product safety in China.

At present, China's automotive industry is rapidly evolving towards electrification and intelligence, with product innovation accelerating and a plethora of new technologies and features continually emerging. Nevertheless, certain companies, in their quest for novelty, have neglected fundamental safety principles, resulting in frequent occurrences of impractical designs and insufficient R&D testing and verification. These issues pose latent threats to product safety, market reputation, and the industry's high-caliber development.

The implementation of this policy is intended to steer the industry towards a safety-first and rational innovation mindset, ensuring that safety evaluations, reliability checks, and environmental adaptability tests are seamlessly integrated into the product design and R&D lifecycle. This is a pivotal step in proactively identifying and minimizing product safety hazards at their inception, striking a balance between innovative progress and safety governance within the automotive sector.

Companies throughout the industry are urged to proactively embrace the policy's directives and shoulder their primary obligations for product quality and safety:

• Uphold safety as a cornerstone, standardize innovative designs, discard irrational innovation approaches that prioritize aesthetics over safety, and incorporate safety assessments into every stage of product innovation.
• Enhance the R&D testing and verification framework, bolster comprehensive reliability and complex environmental adaptability testing across diverse scenarios, and rectify deficiencies in R&D verification processes.
• Remain steadfast in quality commitment, guarantee product safety and reliability through rigorous testing and verification, and achieve harmonious development between technological innovation and safety management.

Looking ahead, the CAAM will actively engage with regulatory bodies to enhance policy understanding and industry-wide adoption, guiding the industry towards standardized innovation, stringent risk management, and improved quality and efficiency. This will lay a solid foundation for the safe development of China's automotive industry and propel its high-quality, sustainable growth.