China's Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the State Administration for Market Regulation have jointly released the "Guidelines for Overseas Competitive Behavior and Compliance Construction in the Automotive Industry." The new directive mandates that enterprises implement necessary safeguards to ensure all data processing activities related to connected vehicles and autonomous driving—including information collection, usage, protection, and cross-border data transfer—strictly comply with relevant laws and regulations.

The guidelines emphasize that automakers must adhere to laws governing personal information processing to protect consumer privacy, while also complying with the intellectual property regulations of both China and their host countries. Companies are urged to strategically position their independent intellectual property in overseas markets to mitigate infringement risks.

Additionally, enterprises are instructed to standardize their use of intellectual property in areas such as industrial design, component production, and communication technologies, while properly addressing any intellectual property disputes that may arise. The document also requires strengthened overseas antitrust compliance programs to identify, assess, and manage legal risks, ensuring fair competition and lawful business conduct in international markets.