Accident Emergency Call Systems (AECS), also known as eCall systems, are onboard vehicle systems which, in the event of the vehicle being involved in a serious impact, automatically transmit data on the vehicle’s location to the emergency services and initiate a voice call to an emergency call centre so that the vehicle’s occupants can speak directly to emergency call centre personnel. The fitment of such systems has become commonplace in Europe in recent years following the publication of European Union Regulation (EU) 2015/758, which mandated the fitment of eCall systems to new types of M1 and N1 category vehicle, e.g. passenger cars, multipurpose passenger vehicles, pick-up trucks and vans, from 31st March 2018.
Although the fitment of such Accident Emergency Call Systems (AECS) had not previously been mandated in China, on 25th April 2025, the State Administration for Market Regulation of the People’s Republic of China published a new Chinese Standard on Onboard Accident Emergency Call Systems, GB 45672-2025, which specifies technical requirements for such systems and mandates the fitment of systems complying with its requirements to all M1 and N1 category vehicles, e.g. passenger cars, multipurpose passenger vehicles, pick-up trucks and vans.
Although the technical requirements specified within Chinese Standard GB 45672-2025 are similar to those specified in the EU Regulation on eCall, and to those specified in the equivalent United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN ECE) Regulation on Accident Emergency Call Systems (AECS); Regulation No. 144, there are a number of notable differences. For example:
- Chinese Standard GB 45672-2025 requires that the Minimum Set of Data (MSD) transmitted by the Onboard Accident Emergency Call System must include information on the vehicle’s longitudinal and lateral velocity change (deceleration) during the impact and information on the vehicle’s geographical location immediately prior to the Onboard Accident Emergency Call System being triggered.
- Chinese Standard GB 45672-2025 requires that frontal, lateral and rear impact tests are carried out to confirm the correct triggering of the Onboard Accident Emergency Call System, specifying that these tests may be carried out either as full vehicle impact tests or as sled tests on a representative body-in-white (BIW) fitted with the all of the components of the Onboard Accident Emergency System mounted in their correct locations and orientations. The deceleration pulses to be used for these sled tests are specified within the Standard.
For M1 category vehicles, compliance with Chinese Standard GB 45672-2025 becomes mandatory for new vehicle types from 1st July 2027 and for all new vehicles from 1st August 2028.
For N1 category vehicles, compliance with Chinese Standard GB 45672-2025 becomes mandatory for new vehicle types from 1st February 2028 and for all new vehicles from 1st February 2029.