China tightens vehicle safety rules with new door handle standard

In a bid to address potential safety risks associated with hidden door handle designs, a mandatory national standard on automotive door handle safety will come into force on Jan 1, 2027, said the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on Monday.

The standard mandates that each vehicle door—excluding the tailgate—must be equipped with both a mechanically released exterior door handle and a mechanically released interior door handle. The requirement is intended to ensure that doors can be opened reliably and to eliminate safety hazards that may arise from electronically controlled or concealed door handle systems.

The standard was formulated in response to concerns that some exterior door handles are difficult to operate or may fail to open after accidents. The new requirements are thus designed to ensure that vehicle occupants can unlock and open doors through manual mechanical operation even in scenarios such as power outages, severe collisions or battery thermal runaway, thereby avoiding the potential failure of electronically controlled door handles in emergency situations.

The implementation of the standard will follow a phased timeline, starting with newly approved vehicle models which are required to fully comply by Jan 1, 2028. Models that have already received approval will be required to meet all standard requirements by Jan 1, 2029.