China's New Auto '15th Five-Year Plan' Sets 2030 NEV Targets, Prioritizes Automotive AI Standards
China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) and eight other government departments have jointly issued the "15th Five-Year Plan for the Development of the Intelligent Connected New Energy Vehicle Industry." The document, dated Sept. 9, was made public through central media on Sept. 14. It follows a "1+4" structure and outlines a target system for 2030, with 17 key tasks in five areas, four major projects and three priority actions.
By 2030, new energy passenger vehicles and commercial vehicles are expected to account for 70% and 40% of new vehicle sales in their respective segments. Vehicles with autonomous driving functions are slated for large-scale application, with high-level automated driving achieved on highways, urban expressways and some urban roads. The plan also sets average fuel consumption of 3.3 liters per 100 km for passenger cars, average energy consumption of around 11.5 kWh per 100 km for battery-electric passenger cars, a 15% increase in overall labor productivity compared with 2025, and carbon peak before 2030.
Under key technology projects, the plan calls for developing a new-generation automotive electronic and electrical information architecture and in-vehicle communication technologies, as well as core technologies such as vehicle operating system kernels, middleware and functional software. It also urges performance upgrades and wider deployment of automotive chips covering computing, control, storage and communications, along with high-end sensors. An "AI + Automobile" action plan aims to realize cockpit-driving integration and full-scenario adaptive control through cross-domain in-vehicle collaboration.
On standards and regulation, the plan requires continuous revision of safety standards covering functional safety, safety of the intended functionality, cybersecurity, data security and road traffic safety, while accelerating development of frontier cross-domain standards for automotive AI, cockpit-driving integration and automotive chips. It also calls for improving filing and management procedures for software and hardware upgrades, strengthening access management for connected terminals, and building a three-tier safety monitoring platform for intelligent connected new energy vehicles at national, local and enterprise levels. MIIT data shows domestic NEV sales rose from 1.367 million units in 2020 to 16.49 million units in 2025, while the adoption rate of combined driving assistance features in passenger cars increased from 16.2% to 64.9%.
