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China Advances L3 Rollout With Beijing’s First Plates and GAC’s 120 km/h Highway Tests

Municipal approvals move autonomous driving from lab tests to tightly controlled highway pilots.

Overview

  • Beijing issued the country’s first special L3 highway license plates—京 AA0001Z, 京 AA0733Z and 京 AA0880Z—registered to BAIC Arcfox Alpha S (L3), granting legal on‑road qualification.
  • GAC said its Haobo A800 began MIIT‑backed L3 highway research testing in Guangzhou with approved trials reaching speeds up to 120 km/h.
  • China’s MIIT earlier granted the first L3 product access licenses, enabling limited pilots in designated areas of Beijing and Chongqing under strict operating conditions.
  • Operational limits vary by model and route, with Arcfox permitted up to 80 km/h on specified Beijing highway segments and Changan’s Deep Blue capped at 50 km/h in congestion scenarios in Chongqing.
  • Both Arcfox and GAC rely on advanced sensor suites and Huawei ADS4 compute, reflecting the higher perception, decision making and safety requirements of L3 systems.