Abstract: Autonomous vehicle technology is gradually going from concept to reality. In order to snatch the future market, many countries have enacted legislation to support autonomous vehicle technology research and development, especially the United States, Europe and Japan. Although China has started research on autonomous vehicles, no legislation has ever been passed; there arises a conflict between the development of technology and lack of legislation. We should pay attention to and launch legislation as soon as possible. The primary task of autonomous vehicle legislation should be to establish a regulatory system. First of all, the two basic concepts of "autonomous vehicle" and "operator"should be clarified. The connotation and denotation of autonomous vehicle can be defined and the degree of automation can be established. In addition, the confusing concept of smart cars, autonomous vehicles and driverless cars should be distinguished. The concept of "driver"in the traditional law should be replaced by "operator", leaving more space for future development of technology. Second, China should give priority to establishing a scientific supervision and management system for road test at this stage, put forward principles and operational norms and requirements for road test application, registration, supervision and control, and refine them according to practical experience, to find the balance between the goals of ensuring public safety and promoting the autonomous vehicle industry. Lastly, a reasonable market access system should be established as early as possible, to specify market access conditions and procedures for autonomous vehicles and the continuing regulatory rules after entry into the market.