China launches first automotive chip standard verification platform

China on Tuesday launched its first automotive chip standard verification platform in Shenzhen, a tech hub in south China's Guangdong Province, marking that the country's capability to verify and evaluate the quality of automotive-grade chips has entered a new phase.

The platform has 13 specialized test rooms, including facilities for automotive-grade environmental and reliability testing, failure analysis, information security, and performance testing. It is equipped with over 80 sets of testing devices and can conduct verification tests for more than 30 automotive chip standards.

"This is a national-level pilot-scale verification platforms covering all nine major categories and 81 subcategories of automotive chips. It provides public testing services for ships applied in a full range of scenarios, including intelligent driving, smart cockpits, security and power," said Xia Xianzhao, chief expert of the China Automotive Technology and Research Center.

Experts note that serving as the "brain" and "nervous system" of intelligent vehicles, chips play a crucial role in advancing the high-quality development of the modern automotive industry.

Looking ahead, China is planning to use the platform to develop unified testing methods for automotive-grade chips, build standardized verification platforms, and strengthen key common generic technologies for testing automotive-grade chips to enhance the quality of China's automotive chips and contribute Chinese solutions for intelligent connected new-energy vehicles to the global industrial ecosystem.

"We aim to build a 'quality testing field' for China's automotive-grade chips. By focusing on quality standards, technologies, and ecosystems, we will establish a complete cycle linking standard development, testing and certification, and industrial application," said Gong Jinfeng, deputy general manager of the China Automotive Technology and Research Center.

China launches first automotive chip standard verification platform

The U.S. State Department announced Wednesday that it is pausing immigrant visa processing from 75 countries.

The measure will apply to "countries whose migrants take welfare from the American people at unacceptable rates. The freeze will remain active until the U.S. can ensure that new immigrants will not extract wealth from the American people," the department said on X.

The pause impacts countries including Somalia, Haiti, Iran and Eritrea, "whose immigrants often become public charges on the United States upon arrival," said the State Department.

Earlier on Wednesday, the department announced in a memo that it would suspend visa processing for 75 countries, including Somalia, Russia, Afghanistan, Brazil, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Nigeria, Thailand and Yemen, according to a Fox News report.

The pause will begin Jan. 21 and will continue indefinitely until the department conducts a reassessment of visa processing, the report said. The move came after the White House announced on Tuesday that it is ending temporary protected status for Somali immigrants amid fraud allegations in Minnesota.

On Monday, the State Department announced on social media that it had revoked over 100,000 visas since U.S. President Donald Trump took office nearly a year ago.

In November 2025, Trump announced his intention to permanently suspend immigration from what he described as "Third World countries", following the death of a National Guard member after being shot near the White House by an Afghan national.

U.S. freezes immigrant visa processing from 75 countries