The 2021 Qingdao Forum on International Standardization was held on July 28 in Qingdao, Shandong province, with government officials, industry experts, as well as representatives from globally prestigious standards organizations sharing their views on the latest trends of standardization development at home and abroad.

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, as well as promoting scientific and technological progress, said industry experts.

The 2021 Qingdao Forum on International Standardization is held on July 28 in Qingdao, Shandong province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Standardization is a powerful technical support for economic and social development. Only when standards are unified can we obtain the best order and social benefits, said Yu Xinli, president of China Association for Standardization.

According to Yu, the three major international standardization organizations, ISO, IEC, and ITU, as well as the European Union and the United States, have adjusted and introduced international standardization strategies, regional standardization strategies, and national standardization strategies in recent years, which has set off an upsurge of standardization strategy upgrading all over the world.

China has also been promoting the standardization strategy, said Chen Hongjun, an official from the State Administration for Market Regulation.

Participants at the forum [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The new Standardization Law was implemented on January 1, 2018, which has provided the overall direction guidance for the development of standardization, said Chen, adding that China has reached 97 cooperation agreements on standardization with 54 countries, regional organizations, and international organizations.

Smart manufacturing is the path of manufacturing transformation and development, with standards setting its foundation, said Ouyang Jinsong, director of the Instrumentation Technology and Economy Institute.

"Smart manufacturing is a collaborative manufacturing mode. Its production resource allocation is integrated across industries, regions, and enterprises on a global scale. Standards are the only way to integrate these production resources," said Ouyang.