China deepens global cooperation on auto testing and standards

China is stepping up participation in international automotive testing and technical rule-making as its auto industry expands further into global markets.

A technology seminar held last week in Ingolstadt, Germany, where Audi is headquartered, brought together 150 representatives from automakers, testing organizations and research institutions from China and Europe.

The event, organized by CATARC Automotive Test & Assessment Management Center, saw joint research initiatives, technical working groups and cooperation agreements, marking a shift from technical exchanges toward joint development.

CATARC stands for the China Automotive Technology and Research Center, which operates C-NCAP, China's New Car Assessment Program and is the only Chinese member of the global NCAP family.

C-NCAP serves as a benchmark for vehicle safety assessment in China and a platform for Chinese researchers and testing organizations to participate in international safety research and contribute to global technical discussions.

During the Ingolstadt meeting, CATARC and Euro NCAP held bilateral discussions on occupant dummies and agreed to establish a regular cooperation mechanism covering new crash conditions, different occupant characteristics and digital human models.

CATARC also shared research on injury-quantification methods based on Chinese human body characteristics.

The 2027 edition of C-NCAP will introduce dummies representing Chinese human characteristics as well as human body models, according to CATARC Automotive Test Center (Tianjin) Co.

"Safety assessment must be anchored in real-world local accident data," said Wang Hao, deputy general manager of CATARC Automotive Test Center (Tianjin) Co, adding that China's experience could contribute to the development of the global NCAP technical system.

Li Weijing, technical director of China Auto Standardization Research Institute, CATARC, said international cooperation should seek common methodologies while allowing testing conditions and weighting schemes to reflect local characteristics.

In intelligent driving, a joint research working group on virtual testing was established, led by CATARC Intelligent Technology (Tianjin) Co.

The group will address incompatible scenario formats, inconsistent data interfaces and the lack of standardized methods for assessing simulation credibility by aligning scenario formats through ASAM OpenX standards, standardizing data interfaces and developing a quantitative credibility framework.

Zhao Shuai, assistant general manager of China Automotive Intelligent Technology (Tianjin), said the credibility framework would be particularly challenging because it needs to work across automakers, suppliers and different simulation tools.

The initiative is expected to provide a technical foundation for future virtual testing methods under C-ICAP and contribute to an internationally recognized framework for intelligent-driving safety validation.

Low-carbon cooperation also produced several practical outcomes.

CATARC Carbon (Beijing) Digital Technology Center Co and DEKRA signed a sustainability cooperation agreement covering EU battery regulations, the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism and supply-chain ESG due diligence.

The two sides will explore a model under which carbon accounting is conducted in China and verified in Europe.

The meeting also launched a China-Europe laboratory testing capability benchmarking and recognition project between CATARC and Green NCAP, and released a white paper on mutual recognition of automotive carbon footprints between China and Europe.

Li Xiangrong, director of CATARC Automotive Test & Assessment Management Center, said the organization is developing a comprehensive "3+1+N" evaluation system covering safety, intelligence and green development.

"Through the ITEC platform, we are promoting joint research projects such as MPDB and China-Europe carbon-footprint mutual recognition," Li said.

"These efforts will help Chinese automakers expand overseas while providing consumers worldwide with higher-quality mobility products."

Representatives from Chinese and European automakers, including Geely, Chery, Li Auto and Audi, also took part in the technical discussions.

Wang Jiang, senior director of testing, regulation and certification at Nio, said ITEC could help Chinese automakers better understand international testing requirements while providing a channel to share China's latest automotive technologies and practices with overseas markets.