Shanghai sets rules for L4 robotaxis, including quick breakdown response

Shanghai is paving the way for robotaxis to run as a full commercial service. Its revised rules for self-driving cars, in force since Oct. 30, set out the route for the first time. The cars must be factory-built models listed in the national vehicle catalog kept by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (工业和信息化部, MIIT), with police registration and transport licenses.

The rules are toughest on highly automated (L4) cars with no safety officer on board. Normally each remote safety officer watches one car. With the city’s approval, one officer can watch up to three. If a car stops and can’t move, the operator must get staff to it within 15 minutes. That’s a tight response window in a massive city with close to 25 million people.

The rules cover testing of self-driving cars and trucks on Shanghai’s roads, from driver-assistance (L2) systems on expressways to cars with no one inside. Low-speed delivery vehicles are left out. The economy commission issued the rules with the city’s transport commission and police bureau. They were signed Oct. 27 and run to October 2031. The notice was posted Nov. 3, along with a graphic explainer.

So who can use the commercial route? The rules name no one. Eight companies have held paid demonstration permits since July 2025, including Shanghai units of Baidu and Pony.ai, The Paper reported. SAIC Motor says its factory-built robotaxi, due in 2027, will be Shanghai’s first, The Paper reported.

Sources

• 上海市经济和信息化委员会 SEITC (notice)
• 上海市经济和信息化委员会 SEITC (explainer)
• 上海市人民政府 Shanghai government (Order No. 60)
• 澎湃新闻 The Paper
• 澎湃新闻 The Paper (via Tencent News)
• 新华社 Xinhua
• 京报网 Beijing Daily

Editor: Ian Lamont