The American National Standards Institute's (ANSI) vice president for international policy, Joseph Tretler Jr., traveled to China December 4-8, 2017, to engage Chinese counterparts on ANSI member priority issues. ANSI's senior leadership make regular trips to China, reflecting the Institute's long history of cooperation with China and the volume of activities carried out under ANSI's China program. These trips are integral in maintaining the relationships that make member initiatives possible.
In Beijing, Mr. Tretler met with SAC administrator Tian Shihong and congratulated Mr. Tian on the success of the event in Hangzhou. In discussing the promulgation of the Standardization Law and ANSI's comments on "Social Organization Standardization Part 2: the Evaluation for Good Practice," Mr. Tretler shared key takeaways from the international seminar, including the suggestion for a single accreditation body for standards development in China, and the differences between national standards in China (which are mandatory) and American National Standards, which are voluntary consensus standards that have been developed and approved in accordance with the ANSI Essential Requirements. They also discussed further opportunities for cooperation, including a proposed industry roundtable on enterprise standards when Mr. Bhatia visits China in July 2018. Details of this workshop will follow shortly.
Another highlight of Mr. Tretler's visit was the annual ANSI Appreciation Reception for members and partner organizations in China. Hosted by the ANSI China Roundtable, the annual gathering, an important tradition for ANSI's China program, was once again an invaluable opportunity for members to network among the unique group of key players in the U.S.-China standards realm, and allowed Mr. Tretler to thank ANSI's members and partners for their continued support. Chinese participants in the reception included Xu Xinjian, director general of the department of law and regulation at AQSIQ; Liu Pingjun, former vice minister of AQSIQ and current chairman of the China Brand Promotion Association; Ge Zhirong, former vice minister of AQSIQ and current president of China Inspection and Quarantine Association; Gao Jianzhong, secretary general of the China Association of Standardization; and Wu Xiaobo, vice president of CNIS. During the reception, which was attended by over 50 participants (of which over 20 were representatives of ANSI members), Mr. Tretler provided a welcome address highlighting the program's accomplishments for the year, including the aforementioned high-level visits of ANSI's Chinese governmental counterparts, the organization of six workshops under the U.S.-China SCCP, and the quarterly publication of the ANSI in China newsletter.
Finally, Mr. Tretler visited the newly appointed president of CNIS, Liu Hongsheng. Mr. Tretler updated Mr. Liu on ANSI's background as well as the close working relationship ANSI shares with CNIS. He also shared details of ANSI's comments on the CNIS document "Social Organization Standardization: Part 2 - the Evaluation of Good Practice," which ANSI had earlier submitted to CNIS.
For more photos from ANSI's meetings in China, please visit ANSI's Flickr Album. More information on ANSI's China program is available here. Questions and comments can be directed to [email protected].