China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has proposed a dedicated turquoise, or "blue-green," marker lamp that only cars with Level 3 or higher automated driving systems would be allowed to fit. The draft, a revision of the mandatory lighting standard GB 4785, was opened for public comment on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026. Comments close on Dec. 19, and an explanatory note recommends the standard take effect on Jan. 1, 2028, CnEVPost and EV report.

How the lamps would work

  • Level 3 and up only: "Vehicles without Level 3 or higher automated driving systems are prohibited from installing ADS marker lamps," the draft says, per EV's translation. Fitting them would be optional.
  • Automatic, not manual: the lamps switch on when Level 3+ automation is activated and off when it disengages. Manual switching is banned, and they may not light up while a car is running Level 2 driver assistance.
  • Placement: a pair at the front, rear and sides, at least 250 mm (9.8 in) off the ground, with extra side lamps on vehicles 6 m or longer.

Many Chinese automakers, including Li Auto and Nio, already fit blue lights to show that assisted driving is on. The China Automotive Standardization Research Institute said on July 29 that such lights were being misused, and an automaker employee told Yicai that newly certified models had been barred from using them since July 27, according to EV. The draft does not address cars already on the road.

No text, no faces

The same draft would bar every defined lamp except illuminated logos from showing text or forming "human faces, animal faces or other anthropomorphic figures." Gesture control of lamps and voice commands to switch them off would be banned, and welcome-light effects would be allowed only when the car isn't being driven.

Timing would be staged: new models would face most rules from the seventh month after the standard takes effect, while already-approved models get up to 48 months for some provisions, according to the draft documents.

What it means for Tesla

Tesla sells FSD as a supervised, Level 2 system in China, so under this draft its cars could not use the turquoise lamp unless they gained Level 3 approval. The lamp would only be allowed on vehicles that also comply with China's separate automated-driving safety standard, which the MIIT says takes effect on July 1, 2027. For more on how Tesla's driver assistance is spreading abroad, see FSD (Supervised) in Slovakia.