A briefing on policy was held by the State Council Information Office of China on February 20. At the briefing, Zhou Weijun, Director General of the Credit Supervision and Management Department, State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), expounded the policy on the participation of foreign-owned enterprises in the development and revision of standards for the large-scale equipment upgrade and consumer goods trade-in programs.

Standards improvement is the key engine to boost the large-scale renewal of equipment and the trade-in of consumer goods, according to Zhou. SAMR plans to develop 294 national standards for the programs in 2024-2025, and has issued 168 national standards, including 81 for equipment renewal, 49 for trade-in of consumer goods, and 38 for recycling waste products.

Relevant authorities always positively support the participation of foreign-owned enterprises in standards development and revision, Zhou stated. The Guidelines on the Participation of Foreign-owned Enterprises in China’s Standardization Work, jointly released by the National Standardization Administration of China (SAC), National Development and Reform Commission, and Ministry of Commerce, has clarified the entity and scope of participation, patent protection, and rights and obligations of foreign-owned enterprises.

“On the one hand, SAMR strives for the openness and transparency of the development and revision of national standards, and enables the participation of foreign-owned enterprises in every step such as standards proposal, development, public consultation, and review, through the National Public Service Platform for Standards Information. On the other hand, application channels for TC members are available for the society, to enhance the breadth of TC membership.” By the end of 2024, foreign-owned enterprises have become members of 837 TCs, which account for 61% of all TCs, said Zhou.

SAMR will expedite the development of vital standards together with relevant departments, formulate policies on steadily expanding the institutional opening-up of standards, and support foreign experts to join the association standards development and related standards organizations. More foreign-owned enterprises and foreign experts are welcomed to participate in the standards development and revision, to make greater achievements in the large-scale equipment upgrade and consumer goods trade-in programs.