China suspends auto certification body CCAP for a month over improper CCC certificates

China's Certification and Accreditation Administration has issued a suspension order to the China Certification Center for Automotive Products, known as CCAP, one of the main bodies that issues mandatory China Compulsory Certification (CCC) certificates for vehicles sold in the country, ordering it to halt operations for a month over violations in its certification work.

The notice says an investigation found that the agency failed to accurately identify product categories in its compulsory certification business, certifying products that do not belong in the mandatory certification catalog and issuing CCC certificates for them. Under Article 43 of the compulsory product certification regulations, the authority ordered CCAP to suspend operations for one month from September 9 to October 8, 2026, during which the agency cannot carry out compulsory certification work within its designated scope.

The authority also requires CCAP to hold the relevant personnel accountable, fully review its certification assessment process, optimize the standards for application review, strengthen its ability to identify catalog boundaries, organize internal training on the regulations and submit a rectification report. Regulators will inspect the rectification work, and if it fails the inspection, the suspension could be extended further.

Public records show CCAP traces its roots to the China Automotive Products Certification Center founded in August 1998, operates under the China Academy of Machinery Science and Technology Group as an independent third-party certification body, and its business covers mandatory vehicle certification, voluntary product certification, management system certification and certification training.

A nearly three-decade-old auto certification house being shut down for a month over green-lighting products outside the catalog shows regulators' zero tolerance for any damage to the credibility of the CCC system, since that certificate is the mandatory threshold a vehicle must cross before it can be sold in China. The suspension also lands in the middle of the busy season for new model launches, making the timing as uncomfortable for automakers as it is for the certification agency itself.