"The Outline of National Development Plan for Standardization" Printed and Distributed: Research and Formulation for Standardization of Trade in Services on the Agenda

Recently, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council issued "The Outline of National Development Plan for Standardization" (hereinafter referred to as the "Outline"). The "Outline" proposes that by 2025, the standard supply will be transformed from government-led to laying equal stress on both the government and the market. The standard application will be transformed from orienting only on industry and trade to serving the entire economy and society. Standardization will be driven by domestic and international mutual promotion instead of domestic only. Standardization development will shift from a quantity-scale type to a quality-benefit type. Among them, the consistency of key technical indicators between national standards and international standards will be greatly improved, and the conversion rate of international standards will reach over 85%.

（Photo Credit：CFP.CN）

The "Outline" puts forward more than 30 specific requirements on promoting the interactive development of standardization and technological innovation, upgrading the level of industrial standardization, improving the standardization guarantee for green development, accelerating the standardization process of urban and rural construction and social construction, improving the level of opening in standardization to the outside world, promoting standardization reform and innovation, and consolidating the foundation for standardization development.

The "Outline" proposes to strengthen the support of trade facilitation standards. Continue to carry out comparison and analysis of standards in key areas, actively adopt international standards, vigorously promote mutual recognition of Chinese and foreign standards, and improve the degree of consistency between Chinese standards and international standards. Release multilingual versions of Chinese standards and speed up the compilation of foreign language versions of Chinese standards in bulk trade commodities and foreign contracted projects. Research and formulate standards for trade in services, and refine standards for digital finance and international trade single window.

Promote the coordinated development of domestic and international standardization. Coordinate the promotion of international exchanges and cooperation between standardization and technology, industry, and finance, and promote the connection of policies, rules, and standards. Establish an international standardization work mechanism with government guidance, enterprise entities, and industry-university-research linkages. Implement the standard internationalization project to promote the compatibility of Chinese standards with the international standard system.

The 2021 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) was held in Beijing National Convention Center and Shougang Park from September 2-7, with the theme of "Towards Digital Future and Service Driven Development". During the 2021 CIFTIS, focusing on the standardization trend of Chinese and foreign service industries under the background of the digital economy, the 5th China Forum on Standardization of Trade in Services was specially held with the theme of "Service standards are ubiquitous. Service excellence wins the future".

（Photo Credit: The Official Website of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade）

Ke Liangdong, vice chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), stated at the forum that service standards, as an important institutional norm and technical support for the development of the service industry, play a supporting and leading role in enhancing the international competitiveness of China's services and facilitating the high-quality development of international trade.

Li Yubing, deputy director of the Standard Innovation Management Department of the State Administration for Market Supervision, said that to continue to do a good job in the standardization of trade in services, it is necessary to improve the construction of the service industry standard system and accelerate the supply of service standards. Benchmark our standards against international standards, focus on important areas of trade in services, improve the consistency of international and domestic standards, promote international production capacity cooperation through standard interconnection, and continue to promote the constant improvement of the international standard system.

Gao Jianzhong, vice chairman and secretary-general of the China Association for Standardization, said that to carry out standardization work, we need to focus on the trend of globalization. We must not only implement the overall framework and rules, but also need to take specific steps. It’s essential to earnestly grasp humanistic thinking, respond to market demand, solve practical problems, regulate the best order, use advanced technology, reduce operating costs, and improve service efficiency.

During the forum, 11 group standards were also released including the "General Rules for the Evaluation of Business Environment Satisfaction for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises" and "Guidelines for the Circulation of Near-Expired Prepackaged Foods".