In May 2016, China established a public online portal in Chinese for information and links related to the country's association standards (although officially translated as "association standards" in several policy documents, they are more commonly known as "social organization standards"). The portal was established in accordance with China's plan for deepening the reform of its standardization system, which the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has been closely monitoring.
The reform plan promotes association standards, a relatively new category of Chinese standards, and the government has released several policy documents regarding the development and use of these standards, including "Association Standardization—Part 1: Guidelines for Good Practice" [see related news item] and the "Guiding Opinions for Fostering and Developing Association Standards." A reference translation of the Guiding Opinions is available in the Member Library.
The Guiding Opinions called for the establishment of the online information portal, which is managed by the Chinese National Institute of Standardization (CNIS). Although an English version is not currently available, ANSI has investigated the content of the website and found the following to be noteworthy:
As of August 13, 2016, the web site lists 120 registered social organizations;
As of August 13, 2016, the web site provides information on over 157 finalized association standards;
The website provides an overview of the evaluation process for association standards, but the requisite forms have not yet been uploaded; and
The website provides links to relevant Chinese government policies and answers FAQs regarding association standards.
The establishment of the portal is an important demonstration of transparency, although more information on the evaluation process, association standards currently under development and how to participate, and an English version of the portal would expand its utility considerably. For more information on ANSI's China program, visit ANSI's StandardsPortal. Please email [email protected] with any questions.