China has about 15 million passenger cars with NOA as driver assistance adoption expands

• About 61 million passenger cars in China had L2 driver assistance features as of August, including about 15 million equipped with NOA.
• About 16 million passenger cars in China are equipped with 5G terminals.

About 15 million passenger cars in China have NOA (Navigation on Autopilot) capabilities, as regulators advance standards development alongside the expanding adoption of driver assistance technology.

About 61 million passenger cars in China had Level 2 (L2) driver assistance features as of August 2026, including the NOA-equipped vehicles, the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology said on Friday.

Based on those figures, NOA-equipped vehicles account for about 25% of the country's L2-equipped passenger car fleet. The figures represent the existing vehicle fleet, rather than new sales this year.

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The data was presented at the 2026 World Intelligent Connected Vehicles Conference, held in Beijing's Yizhuang area from October 21 to 23. The event was jointly organized by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), the Ministry of Transport and the Beijing municipal government.

During a session announcing the conference's outcomes on October 21, Guo Shougang, head of the MIIT equipment industry department, released a draft of the 2026 edition of China's guidelines for building a national connected-vehicle technical standards system for public consultation.

China has established an initial connected-vehicle standards framework, with work undertaken on more than 400 standards across areas including intelligent connected vehicles, information and communications, intelligent transportation and vehicle management.

The revised guidelines seek to expand standards for intelligent connected vehicle functions and applications, strengthen requirements for system architecture, core components and overall safety, and improve standards governing autonomous driving operations and services.

Vehicle connectivity is also expanding. As of August, about 16 million passenger cars in China were equipped with 5G terminals, while about 2 million had C-V2X (Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything) terminals.

Alongside the broader adoption of driver assistance, China is advancing pilot programs for market access for vehicles with higher levels of autonomous driving capability.

Guo said at the conference that work on the second batch of L3 autonomous driving product market access pilots was underway, Cailian reported on October 22. He did not disclose the automakers or models involved, or when approvals might be granted.

The first batch of L3 models from Changan and BAIC received conditional market access approval in December 2025. Their use is restricted to designated road sections and operating conditions, rather than allowing the functions to be used broadly on roads nationwide.

China proposes uniform rules for automated driving lights, targeting 2028 roll-out - CnEVPostThe draft standard would designate turquoise for automated driving system marker lights, allowing optional installation on vehicles with Level 3 or higher systems.