The Quality Development Department of the State Administration for Market Regulation ("SAMR") has recently issued the Supplementary Circular on Further Standardization of Reports on New Energy Vehicle Accidents (the "Circular").
The Circular reads that where a manufacturer learns of an accident taking place in the Chinese market, in which the new energy vehicle (NEV) it manufactures, sells or imports bursts into cloud of smoke or catches on fire, it shall report within 12 hours (or six hours, if the accident causes casualty or serious social impacts) from the occurrence of the accident to the SAMR's Quality Development Department the basic information about this accident, including the first through fifth information items listed on the New Energy Vehicle Fire Accident Information Form (for Trial Implementation). Meanwhile, the Circular requires that after the occurrence of a NEV fire accident, the NEV manufacturer shall proactively launch a survey of whether fire risks exist among vehicles of the same model, vehicles in the same lot, and other vehicles outfitted with the same spare parts. In case any fire risk is discovered, the manufacturer shall initiate, as soon as possible, the recall process in accordance with relevant provisions of the Administrative Regulations on the Recall of Defective Auto Products and the Implementing Measures for the Administrative Regulations on the Recall of Defective Auto Products.