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Action Plan on Standards to Build the Belt and Road Initiative
Source from：SAC Update on：2022-10-18 15:30

Action Plan for Connectivity of Standards on Joint Efforts to Build the Belt and Road Initiative (2018-2020)

标准联通共建“一带一路”行动计划

Standards are the results of the progress human civilization and a common language throughout the world. Standards promote global connectivity. In terms of advancing the Belt and Road Initiative, standards are mutually reinforcing and jointly promotional with policies and regulations, and they are an important institutional guarantee for connectivity. This action plan has been formulated based on the implementation of the Action Plan for Connectivity of Standards on Joint Efforts to Build the Belt and Road Initiative (2015-2017) and the overall requirements and key tasks for the new stage of the Belt and Road Initiative as well as in accordance with the realities of standardization work for the purpose of implementing the Vision and Actions on Jointly Building the Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and the guiding principles from the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in 2017.

Overall Requirements

The overall requirements are to study conscientiously and implement fully the guiding principles of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China; acquire a profound understanding of President Xi Jinping’s important speeches on advancing the Belt and Road Initiative; implement earnestly Xi Jinping’s directives on standardization expounded at the 39th International Organization for Standardization (ISO) General Assembly; adhere to the principles of being demand oriented, driven by standards, conducting innovative cooperation, working for mutual benefits and practicing rolling implementation; strengthen coordination of standardization strategies and develop mutually compatible standards with countries along the Belt and Road; work vigorously to make China’s standards more international; strengthen the organic integration of standards with policies and regulations; use soft communication on standards to create hard mechanisms for cooperation; strive to improve the compatibility of standards; support infrastructure connectivity; promote international production capacity and equipment manufacturing cooperation; facilitate investment and trade; deepen cultural exchanges; and provide effective technical and institutional support to developing the Belt and Road Initiative.

Main Objectives

The main objectives are, by 2020, to initiate a new stage in the development of international standardization that is open, inclusive and interconnected, and that is based on mutual learning and the sharing of results; complete in the main a new pattern of international standardization that is promoted by governments, is market-driven, has the participation of all parties and advances through cooperation; increase compatibility between the standards of China and other countries, as well as the international standards; and ensure that standardization plays a fundamental and strategic role in advancing the Belt and Road Initiative.

Deepen open cooperation on standardization

We wish to consolidate and increase standardization cooperation with countries and regions in Europe, ASEAN, BRICS, Northeast Asia, North America, Africa and Oceania; expand channels of cooperation on standardization with regions including Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia and West Asia as well as Arab countries; and complete the development of smooth cooperation mechanisms on standardization with key countries along the Belt and Road.

Take more solid steps toward going global with standardization

We will make efforts to formulate a number of mutually recognized standards with countries along the Belt and Road, set up standardization demonstration projects overseas in the fields of industry, agriculture and services, and provide standardization training programs to foreign countries.

Constantly expand mutual recognition of standards

We shall formulate at least 1,000 systematic plans and tasks to create foreign-language versions of Chinese standards and strive to reach 2,000 key technical indicators in key areas of standardization.

Significantly improve China’s reputation for standardization

We will continue to enhance the consistency of China’s standards with international standards, formulate a directory of Chinese standards in fields related to the Belt and Road Initiative, and promote the application of Chinese standards in the course of developing the Belt and Road Initiative.

Key Tasks

We hope to achieve policy, infrastructure, trade, financial and people-to-people connectivity; focus on the key channels and major projects for connectivity; carry out comprehensive standardization cooperation in fields including infrastructure, production capacity, trade and finance, energy and the environment, and poverty reduction; promote the coordination of standardization strategies, policies, measures and projects; promote standardization research, development, exchanges, intertranslations, mutual recognition, harmonization and promotion; strive to achieve compatibility between standards of different countries; and establish a new image of Chinese standardization for joint efforts to build the Belt and Road Initiative.

Coordinate strategic plans and promote standardization connectivity for joint efforts to build the Belt and Road Initiative

We will promote the coordination between Chinese strategic plans, such as the Development Plan for a National Standardization System (2016-2020) , the Standardization and Quality Improvement Plan for the Equipment Manufacturing Industry, the Plan for Improving Consumer Goods Standards and Quality (2016-2020) , and the strategic plans on standardization of countries and regions along the routes by seeking areas of cooperation and establishing cooperation mechanisms. We will study the standardization policies and strategies of key countries along the routes as well as international and regional standardization organizations to compile a collection of global standardization strategies. We will avail ourselves of the opportunity presented by the Joint Initiative on Strengthening Standards Cooperation and Building the Belt and Road to accelerate cooperation with the 12 signatory countries, including Russia, Belarus and Serbia, and push for the inclusion of standardization in the areas of national diplomacy, science and technology, business and quality inspections in cooperative framework agreements between China and other countries.

Deepen infrastructure standardization cooperation and support construction of an interconnected internet network

In the area of transport infrastructure, we will continue to improve technical standards for railways, highways, waterways and civil aviation, as well as formulate foreign-language versions of standards. In terms of energy infrastructure, we will conduct analysis and research on oil and gas pipeline standards of countries along the Belt and Road and strengthen cooperation with Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and other countries in the fields of electricity, power grids and new energy so as to promote the optimal allocation of energy resources between China and other countries and regions. In information infrastructure, we advocate developing intercity information connectivity standards, and will launch in countries along the Belt and Road demonstrations of Chinese digital TV technology standards, Chinese giant screen systems, laser projection technology and on-demand theater technologies and specifications, to promote the joint development of local standards for digital TV.

Promote international cooperation in the standardization of production capacity and equipment manufacturing and ensure better and faster development of the real economy

We will lead and help enterprises in key industries, including oil and gas and nuclear power, with industrial-capacity coordination, as well as at each link of industrial projects, including in design and research, raw material procurement, production and processing, inspection and testing, and after-sales service, to adopt scientific and appropriate standards to boost key projects for international industrial-capacity cooperation. We will also help key countries along the routes to improve their standards and provide standardization information and services in areas with superior capacity, such as building materials, textiles, steel, nonferrous metals, agriculture and home appliances. We will join forces with countries along the Belt and Road to formulate and international standards in fields including aviation, shipping, construction machinery and other equipment manufacturing. Expand standardization cooperation in and promote the development of foreign trade During free trade area negotiations, we will promote greater harmony and consistency in the area of standardization. In the APEC, the Pacific Area Standards Congress and other regional organizations, we will advocate the use of international standards to improve the consistency of our standardization with key countries and regions, such as North America, Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asia. We will support the development of China-Europe freight train services and improve standardization cooperation in the areas of logistics services, pallets and international freight agents to improve operational quality. We will strengthen international cooperation on standardizing e-commerce and develop a new model for e-commerce standardization services. We will develop a Belt and Road international cooperation credibility e-commerce network and promote standardization cooperation to develop cross-border e-commerce logistics by rail between China, Russia and Europe. We will also promote standardization of e-commerce data services, logistics applications and traceability systems so as to achieve online and offline, as well as domestic and overseas, integration.

Strengthen standardization cooperation on saving energy and environmental protection to help build a green Belt and Road

We will strengthen research and development of evaluation standards for green products; promote the creation of product standards; strengthen cooperation and exchanges on standards, certification and accreditation of green products; spread the use of green product standards; promote mutual recognition of green product certification and labeling; reduce green trade barriers; and encourage the development of green trade. We will promote standardized construction of green infrastructure, use standards to improve the green and low-carbon attributes of infrastructure operations, management and maintenance processes so as to improve the quality of the ecological environment. We will deepen standardization cooperation in energy conservation, coordinate energy-saving standards with key countries, carry out research on energy-saving standardization cooperation for refrigeration, air conditioning and lighting products, and support green industry and ecological and environmental cooperation projects.

Promote standardization cooperation in the humanities and promote cross cultural exchanges and mutual learning

We will strengthen exchanges of standardization personnel, promote exchange visits of standardization experts and technicians, launch training of standardization personnel for countries along the Belt and Road, and consolidate bases of cooperation. We will promote cooperation on developing standards in the humanities and conduct research on developing standards with countries along the Belt and Road in areas including the press, publishing, broadcasting, film and television, cultural relic restoration and exhibitions, museums, and management of world cultural heritage. We will strengthen cooperation and exchanges on travel standards with countries along the Belt and Road to promote higher standards within the tourism industry. We will engage in exchanges and mutual learning with countries along the routes on standards for managing the quality of artistic products, and promote the application of, and cooperation regarding, the authentication, trade, circulation and display of artwork.

Strengthen standardization cooperation in the field of health services and increase people-to-people connectivity

We will promote cooperation on formulating and revising international standards for traditional Chinese medicine, and accelerate the work to develop international standards on medicinal materials, pharmaceutical products, medical devices, terminology and informatics, so as to jointly improve the international standards for traditional Chinese medicine. We will encourage cooperation on standardization of elderly care, assisted living and housekeeping, and organize national service industry standardization demonstration organizations and for related agencies to conduct standardization publicity training and applications in relevant countries. We will launch standardization skills training for elderly care and domestic workers in countries along the Belt and Road that need it. We will also intensify cooperation on developing public health systems for ports and promote mutual recognition of regulations and controls as well as mutual law enforcement assistance.

Carry out standardization cooperation in the field of finance to help establish a stable and fair international financial system

Focusing on key areas of consumer concern such as descriptions and specifications of banking products and services and third-party payments, we will deepen cooperation on financial standardization with countries along the Belt and Road and jointly develop international financial standards. We welcome banking institutions of countries along the routes to join the RMB Cross-Border Inter-Bank Payment System (CIPS), and we will actively promote CIPS business standards.

Strengthen standardization cooperation in the maritime field to help open up the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road

We will advocate the development of international standards in key areas including maritime equipment, oceanographic observation and the marine industry. We will translate national standards regarding marine ecological and environmental protection, oceanographic observation and forecasting, and disaster prevention and mitigation. We will promote mutual recognition of marine standards between China and other countries and increase the harmonization of the marine standards of China and other countries along the route.

Action Plans

We will focus on key areas, key countries, important platforms and important foundations, coordinating national standardization resources and making best use of enterprises, industries and localities to launch standardization action plans for building the Belt and Road Initiative. We shall strive to achieve in a short period breakthroughs in the publication of standards in foreign languages, comparisons of international and domestic standards, overseas standardization demonstrations, and a regional standards union, so as to drive overall integration in terms of policies, regulations and standards.

Action on mutual exchanges and mutual recognition of standards between China and other countries

We will promote mutual exchanges, mutual recognition and comparisons of standards by Chinese and foreign competent standardization authorities and strive to improve the consistency of standards in areas including bilateral trade development, scientific and technological progress, and industrial restructuring and upgrading. We will continue to promote mutual exchanges and mutual recognition of standards, further expand the scope of such exchanges, develop the translation, comparison and harmonization of exchange standards, and create a comprehensive directory of mutually recognized standards. We will promote further cooperation on the harmonization of standards with Britain, France and other countries in areas including railways, agricultural food products, electronic healthcare, the elderly economy, urban sustainable development and smart cities.

Action to increase the international influence of Chinese standards

In the fields of electric power, railways, shipping, home appliances, metallurgy and traditional Chinese medicine, we will accelerate applications of advances in science and technology, develop

more technical standards, improve standards, make standards more advanced and systematic, establish a “going global” project library for key standards, encourage the development of overseas standardization demonstration projects, and enhance standardization for overseas industrial parks and trade parks. We will endeavor to launch standardization cooperation between cities, develop Qingdao, Hangzhou, Shenzhen, Baotou and other cities into international hubs of innovation in standardization. We will also strengthen exchanges and mutual learning on standardization practices between China and other countries along the Belt and Road.

Action to compare standards of key consumer goods

We will organize a comparison of consumer standards and international and overseas standards and technical regulations for key consumer goods of our major trading partners and key countries along the routes. By 2020, we will complete a comparison of 300 standards for key consumer goods and approximately 500 technical regulations. We will actively introduce international standards and advanced foreign standards, harmonize 200 international standards, promote work on the mutual recognition of standards with major trading partners, and publish China’s consumer goods standards in foreign languages. We will also participate in developing and revising international standards on consumer goods including household appliances, toys, footwear, textiles, furniture, fireworks and firecrackers.

Action to promote overseas standardization demonstration

We will carry out demonstrations of international cooperation on capacity standards and develop overseas demonstration projects on standardization of equipment, including construction and agricultural machinery. We will promote demonstrations of global energy internet standardization cooperation, analyze the demand for standards for the connectivity between China’s power grids with those of Mongolia, Russia, Pakistan and other countries, and encourage the development of international standards for the connectivity of bilateral and multilateral transnational power grids, applying them to transnational networking projects. We will strengthen the development of ASEAN agricultural standardization demonstration zones and in areas such as grain, tea, fruits and vegetables, cotton and other staple and specialty agricultural products, demonstrate and promote standards for seeds and seedlings, the protection of plant species, managing cultivation, grading agricultural product quality, circulating agricultural products, agricultural inputs and agricultural machinery.

Action to translate Chinese standards into foreign languages

Focusing on key areas of the Belt and Road Initiative, we will draw up 1,000 foreign-language versions of Chinese standards. We will develop national standards in foreign languages in the fields of transportation, oil and gas, electricity, information technology, finance, seas and oceans, and railways. We will strengthen the development of foreign-language versions of sector standards, encourage relevant departments to formulate policies and measures for quickly creating foreign-language versions of standards, and use the achievements of major national science and technology projects to create corpora of translations of Chinese standards in foreign languages. We will encourage localities, groups and enterprises to participate in the development of foreign-language versions of standards in accordance with actual work requirements. We will also encourage overseas-invested enterprises to submit and participate in projects aimed at developing foreign-language versions of standards.

Action to enhance standardization information services

We will promote exchanges of standardization information with countries along the Belt and Road and use such exchanges to drive mutual recognition of standards. We will strengthen the diverse standardization information services with the participation of governments, think tanks, enterprises, social organizations and the public. We will provide standardization information services for the Belt and Road Initiative, and focusing on key areas such as international transportation, energy, hydropower and home appliances, we will integrate the results of comparing and researching standard indicators to provide dedicated standardization information services to enterprises looking to go global. We will strengthen information services of regional standardization research centers and release standardization information relating to the Belt and Road Initiative. We will promote the construction of the China Zhejiang Yiwu Museum of Standards. We will work with the China-ASEAN Information Exchange Center, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and others to promote construction of the Green and Intelligent Standardization Museum and increase the sharing of standardization information and resources between China and other countries along the Belt and Road.

Action to make enterprise standards more international

We will encourage the establishment of an innovative international standardization demonstration base and open up channels for enterprises to participate in standardization work for the Belt and

Road Initiative. We will provide dedicated training for standardization personnel of enterprises, particularly of small and medium-sized enterprises, to improve their professionalism and overall quality and enhance the ability of enterprises to participate in international standardization activities. We will create international standardization personnel training bases in Qingdao and Shenzhen and an international standardization conference base in Hangzhou to provide standardization personnel of Chinese enterprises and research institutes with mechanisms for fixed standardization training and links to international standardization technical bodies.

Action to provide innovative services for the internationalization of standards

We will utilize standards as platforms, provide full services to important domestic and overseas forums and fairs concerning the Belt and Road Initiative, and promote the all-round development of standards, quality and brands. We will create an international standardization forum in Qingdao, promote the establishment of an international standardization forum for the China-ASEAN Expo, and create fixed standardization exchange and cooperation platform for other countries along the Belt and Road. We will support China Household Appliance Standard and Technology Industry

Alliance in launching dedicated innovative standardization services overseas. We will focus on creating a number of standardization cooperation demonstration projects on joint efforts to build the Belt and Road Initiative, achieve breakthroughs in developing regional standards alliance, and promote common understanding on standardization among countries along the Belt and Road.

Action to use standardization to boost international poverty reduction and alleviation

We will learn from successful cases and models of targeted poverty reduction and alleviation standardization, carry out targeted poverty alleviation standardization training, exchanges and demonstration projects, train targeted poverty alleviation standardization personnel of developing countries along the Belt and Road, help establish a system for protecting new varieties of plants under the framework of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants, and share and promote China’s experiences. We will promote the creation of international standards on industry-led poverty alleviation standards, such as village-level poverty alleviation involving photovoltaic power facilities.

Safeguards

Policy and regulatory safeguards

We will include elements of the Action Plan for Connectivity of Standards on Joint Ef for ts to Build the Belt and Road Initiative in bilateral cooperation mechanisms with other countries along the Belt and Road. We will accelerate development and revision to the Standardization Law of the People’s Republic of China and relevant supporting laws and regulations to provide legal protection for connectivity of standards on joint efforts to build the Belt and Road Initiative.

Funding mechanisms

We will give full play to coordination mechanisms of the leading group office in advancing the Belt and Road Initiative, and we will strengthen communication and positive interactions between government departments, between the central government and local governments, and between governments and enterprises. On the basis of making full use of existing capital channels and putting to work available funds, we will increase investment in standardization projects that have achieved initial success, explore the establishment of a market-based and diversified investment mechanism, and ensure funding for relevant projects.

Assessment and implementation

In accordance with the division of responsibilities, all departments should further identify key tasks to implement and prioritize the promotion of projects as well as formulating implementation

plans and timetables. We will step up supervision and inspections of action plans and address problems in a timely manner. We will strengthen follow ups and assessments of implemented action plans and promptly propose opinions and suggestions for adjusting plans and improving policies.

Publicity and guidance

Through such activities as multilateral and bilateral exchanges, we will step up publicity on relevant work policies and information, give play to the role of government departments in information guidance, policy support, communication and coordination, arouse the enthusiasm of relevant associations, societies, chambers of commerce and industry alliances, carry out all-round, multilevel publicity and promotion work, and create a good atmosphere for all sectors of society to participate in the standardization for building the Belt and Road Initiative.