New vision for new era

At the beginning of 2018, we wish our readers from around the world a promising new year ahead!

A retrospective look at what happened last year may present what we’ve achieved and where we shall go. So a series of events/figures/standards that hit the headline in 2017 are reviewed as most concerned by the society.

For instance, the guideline on quality improvement was issued jointly by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, the first ever of such document on quality work, showing the country’s aspiration and determination towards better quality for better future.

For instance, Ms. Yu Limei became the first Chinese or maybe the first Asian to work full time at the ISO Central Secretariat while Ms. Li Juan from Huawei was elected the Youth Leader of IEC. We are more than pleased that more Chinese experts are confidently contributing to the international standardization community.

For instance, a series of standards either government-led or market-driven are drawing social attention since they are so relevant to our lives or to the interests of the public or the private. Social awareness of standards are rising, and the role of standards are becoming pivotal.

China’s standardization work is expected to step up to a new level since the newly revised Standardization Law came into force on January 1, 2018. We previously highlighted the legal improvements for standardization, but however, we still feel excited to include the full version of the revised law in the middle of this issue, with Chinese version on the same pages.

As you may figure it out, the law has been revised with major improvements, from the expanding scope and content of standards and standardization, multiple institutional innovations and the national standardization system.

The legal revision reflects the problem/reform/practice-oriented principles, i.e. focusing on removing underlying hindrances to standardization work, cohering with the reform plan by the State Council and consolidating the proven practice of standardization.

The updated law will bring positive impacts to the country, i.e. promoting high-quality economic and social development, staying committed to people-centered philosophy of development, and pushing forward higher-level opening up of China.

Standardization is emphasized more than ever before as China is embracing its ambitious plan to achieve the three-step goals for prosperity and sustainability in the next few years. Entering a new developmental stage, we look forward to more excitement in this field in 2018!