Gasgoo Munich- On June 26. China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) recently approved two new 5G network communication standards designed for high-level autonomous driving. Led by the Shanghai Communications Administration, China Mobile, and the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT), the documents were drafted with input from more than 20 organizations. Titled "5G Network Deployment and Test Methods for Supporting High-Level Autonomous Driving" and "5G Network Performance Requirements for Supporting High-Level Autonomous Driving," the standards will take effect on September 1, 2026.
Work on these standards began as early as March 31, 2023, spanning more than three years. The process included refining group standards, submitting and revising industry-level drafts, and ultimately securing approval from the relevant authorities for publication.
The standards establish specific 5G network rules for various application scenarios involving high-level autonomous driving. They cover network service capabilities, signal coverage planning, key performance indicators, on-site testing procedures, and communication security constraints.
This marks the first time China has released industry standards specifically addressing 5G network performance and engineering acceptance for high-level autonomous driving. Previously, there was no unified benchmark for assessing 5G network quality in autonomous driving scenarios, leaving network deployment and performance verification without a consistent yardstick. The introduction of these two standards fills that gap in the sector.
For Shanghai's local industry, the new standards provide a clear compliance framework for building intelligent connected vehicle (ICV) demonstration roads, deploying vehicle-to-everything (V2X) projects, and running commercial autonomous driving pilots. By reducing design disagreements and cutting costs for network debugging and acceptance, the rules will strengthen the foundation for Shanghai's ICV sector and help scale up demonstration applications.
On a national scale, unified industry standards will standardize the construction of internet-of-vehicles infrastructure across regions. This prevents a fragmented landscape of network schemes and inconsistent metrics, facilitating the coordinated rollout of intelligent connected vehicle services across different areas.
