Qingdao in East China's Shandong province will host an international standardization forum from June 27 to 29, following an agreement reached between the local government and the Standardization Administration of China last year.

The Qingdao Forum on International Standardization is scheduled to take place annually. This year's event, with the theme of "Standards make cities more intelligent", aims to highlight the active role standardization can play in improving global governance and promoting sustainable development.

It consists of a theme forum; six parallel forums that discuss such topics as intelligent manufacturing, high-speed railway equipment and sustainable urban development; and two international conferences: the International Organization for Standardization Central Secretariat Conference and the Sino-Germany Standardization Cooperation Conference.

Organizers plan to invite 400 guests from China and abroad. Currently, senior officials from the three major international standardization organizations - the International Organization for Standardization, the International Electrotechnical Commission and the International Telecommunication Union - have confirmed their attendance.

With the in-depth development of economic globalization, standardization has played an increasingly important role in improving social governance, supporting industrial development, facilitating economic and trade cooperation and promoting scientific and technological progress.

In 2015, Qingdao became the first city in China to announce a "standardization plus" development strategy and signed a memorandum of understanding related to developing an innovation city focused on international standardization with the Standardization Administration of China.

According to the agreement, Qingdao will further participate in international standardization affairs and set up more related platforms, such as an international standard information center, a training center for standardization professionals and a research center for internationalization standards.

The city now serves as a secretariat for 25 international and national professional standardization organizations. It has also led or been involved in the formulation and revision of 74 international standards, more than 650 national standards and over 700 industry standards.

(China Daily 05/15/2017 page28)