International forum to allow experts to set things straight in various fields

With a theme of "International Standards and the Fourth Industrial Revolution", the 2019 Qingdao Forum on International Standardization will kick off Sunday at the Qingdao Shangri-La Hotel, Shandong province.

Organized by the city government, the three-day event features a main forum, five sub-forums, an investment promotion and expert recruitment event, a symposium on the project "China Standards 2035" and an academic seminar.

According to the organizing committee, around 400 people will attend the forum including officials of the State Administration for Market Regulation and the Shandong government, John Walter, president of the International Organization for Standardization, and Frans Vreeswijk, general secretary of the International Electrotechnical Commission.

International forum to allow experts to set things straight in various fields
International forum to allow experts to set things straight in various fields
Leaders of international and national standardization organizations and representatives of enterprises such as Huawei will give keynote speeches at the main forum.

The sub-forums will discuss the trends and achievements in standardization in five important fields, namely the modern marine industry, international intelligent manufacturing, environmental protection, new display industry, and talent training.

Additionally, the symposium and seminar will serve as platforms for members of the national standardization experts committee and China Standards 2035 project to exchange views. Professionals will be encouraged to work together to make contributions to the formulation and implementation of China's standardization strategies.

Held on the last day will be the event for investment promotion and expert recruitment. Through a series of activities such as exhibitions and project contract signing, the event will strengthen the domestic and foreign standardization organizations' connections with enterprises and research institutes in Qingdao and Shandong.

President of the International Organization for Standardization John Walter sent a congratulatory letter to the organizing committee.

"The Qingdao Forum on International Standardization is very important to the world. I wish much success to everyone involved," he said.

Founded in June 2017, the Qingdao Forum on International Standardization is an international conference held every two years in Qingdao.

With a general theme of "Standards Create Value and Enable Shared Development", the forum focuses on big issues related to international standardization and social development.

As an international high-level conference in the field of standardization, the Qingdao Forum on International Standardization will provide technical support for the development of the Qingdao Area of China (Shandong) Pilot Free Trade Zone and international cooperation related to the Belt and Road Initiative, making Qingdao an open and dynamic cosmopolitan city, local officials said.

zhanglinwan@chinadaily.com.cn

Key achievements

In 2003, Qingdao was approved to build a pilot city for technical standards. The city government issued a plan on technical standards, beginning a new development period for the city.

In 2006, the Qingdao National High-tech Industrial Development Zone was approved to become one of the 12 national high-tech industry standardization demonstration zones.

In 2007, the Standardization Administration of China announced in Qingdao the launch of the national high-tech industry standardization demonstration zones.

In 2012, Qingdao organized the international standardization knowledge training course of SAC.

In 2014, the Qingdao Talent Exchange Service Center was approved as one of the first batch of 53 pilot institutions in China for socialized management and public service standardization.

In 2015, Qingdao became a pilot city for the new national urbanization standardizations.

Qingdao teamed up with eight cities including Shanghai to form the National Domestic Trade Circulation Standardization Alliance.

In 2017, the city government issued the "Qingdao standardization plus" development plan and set up the Qingdao standardization committee.

Qingdao hosted the first Qingdao Forum on International Standardization. The Qingdao government, SAC and ISO signed a tripartite agreement.

The Standardization College of Qingdao University was established, recruiting 30 undergraduate students majoring in standardization engineering.

In January 2019, Qingdao released plans for implementing Shandong province's national pilot project of standardization reform.

In August, Qingdao released a new method to put some standards on trial and then evaluate their effect. The local market supervision bureau then released related evaluation methods.

On Oct 15, the second international standardization training class was held in Qingdao. Thirty-four people from standardization institutes in nine countries attended.

(China Daily 10/26/2019 page16)