China delays plans for mass production of self-driving cars after accident

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Crash test dummies in storage at Geelys new safety centre in Ningbo, China, in December 2025.

PHOTO: KEITH BRADSHER/NYTIMES

Keith Bradsher

NINGBO, China – Early in 2025, Chinese automakers enthusiastically announced that they would soon be mass-producing and selling self-driving vehicles.

Most of those plans have now been delayed after a deadly crash that drew broad public attention.

China’s regulators finally gave the go-ahead last week to only two of the nine automakers that had submitted plans to sell self-driving cars. And the approvals by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology were narrowly tailored to allow little more than further testing, not mass production.

Beijing Automotive Group and Changan Automobile in Chongqing will be allowed to operate self-driving taxis on three stretches of highway in each company’s hometown, the ministry said, and the taxis will not be allowed to change lanes while under computer control. On any other road, the taxis will need to be under the control of a driver.

The limited programmes represent a recognition by the Chinese government that objectives set nearly five years ago, to begin mass production for sale to the general public by the end of 2025, were too ambitious.

China’s regulators began to

pull back after a crash of a Xiaomi SU7

Questions swirled over whether drivers or automakers could be held legally responsible for