National People's Congress Representative He Xiaopeng: Recommend Advancing Autonomous Driving Policy Leap from Level L2 to Level L4, Streamlining L3 Intermediate Stage

Beijing Business Daily News (Reporter Lin Yuwei): On March 4th, the 2026 National People’s Congress opened. He Xiaopeng, a delegate of the 14th National People’s Congress and Chairman and CEO of XPeng Motors, submitted a proposal titled “Suggestions on Accelerating the Transition of Autonomous Driving Technology from L2 to L4 and Improving Regulations and Management Policies,” focusing on key areas of technological and industrial innovation.

The autonomous driving industry is an important track for cultivating new productive forces and promoting the transformation and upgrading of the automotive industry. With the deep application of large models and high computing power, autonomous driving technology is shifting from a software-defined functionality era to an AI-driven intelligent era. Technological iteration is accelerating significantly, and the demand for commercialization is increasingly urgent. The current “gradual and progressive” management framework faces new challenges. Meanwhile, the policy and regulatory window for global autonomous driving is rapidly narrowing, with the United Nations and the United States accelerating the implementation of regulations and mass production deployment laws for L3 and above autonomous driving.

Against this backdrop, China has a first-mover advantage in developing Level 2 assisted driving applications and has been steadily advancing pilot projects for intelligent connected vehicle access and road testing. How to consolidate existing safety foundations while accelerating the adaptation of higher-level autonomous driving capabilities has become an unavoidable industry issue. Promoting the transition of policy and regulatory systems from L2 to L4, and facilitating rapid technological iteration and large-scale commercialization, will help transform China’s accumulated advantages in L2 into a competitive edge in the L4 autonomous driving era.

Based on this, He Xiaopeng proposed four suggestions: on the basis of maintaining the stable operation of the L2 safety supervision system, promote the transition of autonomous driving policies from L2 to L4, simplifying the intermediate L3 stage; gradually clarify the registration and traffic management system for L4 autonomous vehicles, and promote the compliant deployment of L4 vehicles nationwide.

Additionally, conduct traffic regulation adaptability assessments, optimize traffic behavior norms applicable to both human and machine driving under safety conditions, considering the characteristics of autonomous driving.

He also suggested granting local pilot management rights for L4 unmanned driving applications in specific scenarios, allowing some cities with mature basic conditions to carry out pilot projects in low-risk scenarios. This will gradually form replicable and promotable experiences. The synchronized evolution of institutional supply and technological capabilities will help establish a more stable and predictable environment for the large-scale deployment of higher-level autonomous driving.

Under international competitive pressure in the deployment of higher-level autonomous driving, advancing autonomous driving from L2 directly to L4, bypassing L3, is not only a technological route choice but also a systematic upgrade of institutional systems, regulatory environments, and governance capabilities. Accelerating breakthroughs in key institutional bottlenecks that constrain industry development will enable China’s intelligent connected vehicles and autonomous driving industry to gain a strategic advantage in global competition.