Last updated: 23 January 2026
GB/T is the set of electric vehicle charging standards used in China. The abbreviation stands for ‘guóbiāo tuījiàn’ (Chinese: 国标推荐) meaning ‘recommended national standard’. (Click here for the full list of all countries and their respective EV charging connectors)
A Type 2 plug (female connector) vs a GB/T (AC) plug (male connector). The connectors have a mirrored configuration, so -although totally pointless- both connectors could be plugged into each other.
The Chinese system has two incompatible types of connectors: one for alternating current (AC) and one for direct current (DC). This means that every EV on the Chinese market features two charging ports, whereas electric cars in most of the rest of the world just have a single inlet for both AC and DC charging.
China's GB/T AC standard uses connectors that are physically identical to the Type 2 standard, but with mirrored male/female pin configurations. This means that a GB/T cable has a male plug and the vehicle inlet is female, while Type 2 is the reverse (female connector on the cable, male charging port on the car). This means that, although totally pointless, both connectors could be plugged into each other. Since the pin assignments and communication signals are different, both systems are incompatible.
The GB/T AC system operates at 250 V or 440 V AC (single phase) and can provide at up to 8 or 27.7 kW, respectively. Although the seven-pin interface is capable of passing three-phase AC power, the current implementation is limited to single-phase power.
