Standardization Law of the People's Repulic of China

(Adopted at the 5th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Seventh National People's Congress on December 29, 1988 and revised at the 30th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Twelfth National People's Congress on November 4, 2017)

Chapter I General Provisions

Article 1. This law is enacted to strengthen standardization work, enhance the quality of products and services, promote scientific and technological progress, ensure human health and the security of people's lives and property, safeguard national and eco-environmental security, and raise the level of economic and social development.

Article 2. For the purpose of this law, standards including reference materials refer to technical requirements that needs to be unified in agriculture, industry, services, social undertakings and other fields.

Standards include material standards, sector standards, local standards, association standards and enterprise standards. National standards are divided into mandatory standards and voluntary standards. Both sector standards and local standards are voluntary standards.

Mandatory standards must be implemented. The state shall encourage the adoption of voluntary standards.

Article 3. Standardization work includes developing standards, organizing the implementation of standards, and overseeing the development and implementation of standards.

People's governments at or above the county level shall incorporate standardization work in their economic and social development plans and include relevant expenditure in their budge.

Article 4.　The development of standards shall be based on scientific and technological research and practical experience, while in-depth investigations and demonstrations shall be carried out and opinions be widely solicited, to ensure that standards are reasonable, normative and updated, and to ensure their quality

Article 5. The administrative department in charge of standardization under the State Council Shall uniformly administer national standardization work. Relevant administrative departments under the State Council shall be responsible for the standardization work within their sectors and industries.

Departments in charge of standardization work of local people’s governments at or above the county level shall uniformly administer standardization work within their respective administrative areas. Relevant administrative departments of local people’s governments at or above the county level shall be responsible for the standardization work of the relevant sectors and industries within their administrative areas.

Article 6. The State Council shall establish a standardization coordination mechanism to plan major reforms of standardization, research major standardization policies, and coordinate the development and implementation of inter-ministerial and cross-sectoral standards when disagreement arise.

Local people’s governments at or above the level of a city divided into districts may, where necessary, establish standardization coordination mechanisms to coordinate major items concerning standardization work within their administration areas.

Article 7. The State shall encourage enterprises, social organizations, and educational institutions, research institutes, and other organizations to carry out or participate in standardization work.

Article 8. The State shall promote participation in international standardization activities, engagement in international cooperation and exchanges on standardization, participation in the development of international standards, adoption of international standards in the Chinese context, and harmonization of Chinese and foreign standards.

The State shall encourage enterprises, social organizations, educational institutions, research institutions and other organizations to participate in international standardization activities.

Article 9. Organization and individuals shall be commended and rewarded for their outstanding contributions to standardization work in accordance with relevant State regulations.

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Chapter II Developing Standards

Article 10. Mandatory national standards shall be developed to address technical requirements for ensuring people's health and the security of their lives and property, safeguarding national and eco-environmental security, and meeting the basic need of economic and social management.

Relevant administrative departments under the State Council shall, according to their duties and responsibilities, propose mandatory national standards and organize drafts, solicit opinions and conduct technical reviews thereof. The administrative department in charge of standardization under the State Council shall be responsible for proposal approval, the numbering and notification of mandatory national standards. The administrative department in charge of standardization under the State Council shall assess whether proposed mandatory national standards conform with the provisions in the preceding paragraph and grant approval for proposals found to conform with the provisions.

Departments in charge of standardization under people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government may submit recommendations for proposing mandatory national standards to the administrative department in charge of standardization under the State Council, and the administrative department in charge of standardization under the State Council shall make decisions in conjunction with relevant administrative departments under the State Council. Social organizations, enterprises, public institutions and citizens may submit recommendations for proposing mandatory national standards to the administrative department in charge of standardization under the State Council. Where the department in charge of the standardization under the State Council believe a recommendation should be approved. It shall make a decision in conjunction with relevant administrative departments under the State Council.

Mandatory national standards shall be approved and published, or authorized for approval and publication, by the State Council.

Where laws, administrative regulations and decisions of the State Council otherwise provide concerning developing mandatory national standards, those provisions shall prevail.

Article 11. Voluntary national standards may be developed to address technical requirements that are needed to server basic and generic purpose, support mandatory national standards or play a leading role in relevant industries.

Voluntary national standards shall be developed by the administrative department in charge of standardization under the State Council. Article 12. Where, in the absence of voluntary national standards, national unified technical requirements within a sector are needed, sector standards may be developed.

Sector standards shall be developed by relevant administrative departments under the State Council for registration.

Article 13. Local standards may be developed to address local special technical requirements, such as natural conditions and customs.

Local standards shall be developed by administrative departments in charge of standardization of people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government. Administrative departments in charge of standardization of people's governments of cities divided into districts may, in accordance with special requirements of their respective administrative areas, develop local standards for their administrative areas with the approval of the local administrative department in charge of standardization of a people's government of the province, autonomous region or municipality where they are located. Local standards shall be submitted by administrative departments in charge of standardization of people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government to the administrative department in charge of standardization under the State Council for its registration, and the administrative department in charge of standardization under the State Council shall circulate the same to relevant administrative departments under the State Council.

Article 14. Administrative departments in charge of developing standards shall prioritize the proposal approval and development of standards that address human health, the security of people's lives and property, national and eco environmental security as well as the urgent need of economic and social development.

Article 15. When developing mandatory standards and voluntary standards, investigations into the actual needs of relevant administrative departments, enterprises, social organizations, consumers, educational institutions and research institutions shall be carried out during the proposal approval stage to evaluate and demonstrate the necessity and feasibility of developing the standards. In the process of developing standards, various methods shall be used to solicit opinions in accordance with the principles of convenience and efficacy; analysis, experiments and demonstrations of relevant items of standards shall be carried out; and efforts shall be made to coordinate relevant standards.

Article 16. For developing voluntary standards, a standardization technical committee composed of stakeholders shall be established for the drafting and technical review of such standards. For developing mandatory standards, a relevant standardization technical committee may be entrusted with the drafting and technical review. In the absence of a standardization technical committee, an expert panel shall be set up for the aforementioned work. Such standardization technical committee and expert panels shall be broadly representative.

Article 17. The texts of mandatory standards shall be made available to the public for free. The State encourages free availability of the texts of voluntary standards to the public.

Article 18. The State encourage societies, associations, chambers of commerce, federations, industrial technology alliances and other social organizations to coordinate with relevant market stakeholders in jointly developing association standards that meet market and innovation requirements. These standards shall be adopted by their members upon agreement or, as stipulated by such organizations, may be made publicly available for voluntary adoption by others.

The development of association standards shall adhere to the principles of openness, transparency and fairness to ensure that all participating stakeholders can obtain relevant information and reflect their common requirements, and analysis, experiments and demonstrations shall be conducted of relevant items of standards.

The administrative department in charge of standardization under the State Council shall in conjunction with relevant administrative departments under the State Council regulate, guide and supervise the development of association standards.

Article 19. Enterprises may, where necessary, develop their own enterprise standards or work with other enterprises to develop enterprise standards.

Article 20. The State supports the use of independent innovative technologies to develop association standards and enterprises standards for important industries, strategic emerging industries, key generic technologies and other areas.

Article 21. Technical requirements of voluntary national standards, sector standards, local standards, association standards and enterprise standards must not be less strict than relevant technical requirements of mandatory national standards.

The State encourages social organizations and enterprises to develop association standards and enterprises standards that are stricter than relevant technical requirements of voluntary standards.

Article 22. Standards shall be conductive to the effective and rational use of resources, promote applications of scientific and technological achievements, enhance the security, compatibility and interoperability of products, improve economic, social and ecological benefits, and be technologically advanced and economically viable.

Standards shall not be used to obstruct the free flow of goods and services or to promote other behavior that prevents or restrains market competition.

Article 23. The State shall promote standards that encourage civil-military integration and resource sharing. Increase the harmonization of civil and military standards, and promote the use of advanced and appropriate civilian standards in the development of national defense and the military, and it shall convert advanced and appropriate military standards into civilian standards.

Article 24. Standards shall be numbered in accordance with numbering rules. Numbering rules for standards shall be developed and promulgated by the administrative department in charge of standardization under the State Council.

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Chapter III Implementing Standards

Article 25. Products and services that do not meet mandatory standards shall not be manufactured, sold, imported or provided.

Article 26. Technical requirements for export products and services shall be in accordance with contractual obligations.

Article 27. The State shall implement a self-declaration disclosure and supervision system with regard to association standards and enterprise standards. Enterprises shall disclose the number and name of the mandatory standards, voluntary standards, association standards or enterprise standards that they implement. Where enterprises implement enterprise standards, they have developed themselves, they shall also disclose the functional indicators of products and services and the performance indicators of products. The State encourages the disclosure of association standards and enterprise standards to the public via public service platforms for standardization information.

Enterprises shall organize production and business activities in accordance with standards, and the products they make and the services they provide shall meet the technical requirements of the standards they have disclosed.

Article 28. Where enterprises improve their products, develop new products, or upgrade technology, they shall meet standardization requirements as stipulated in this law.

Article 29. The State shall establish a statistical analysis and report system to monitor the implementation of mandatory standards.

The administrative department in charge of standardization under the State Council, other relevant departments under the State Council and administrative departments in charge of standardization of local people's governments at or above the level of cities divided into districts shall establish feedback and evaluation mechanisms on the implementation of standards, and review the standards they have developed based on such feedback and evaluation. The review cycle for standards shall not exceed five years. Following reviews, standards that do not meet the needs of economic and social development and technological progress shall be revised or withdrawn.

Article 30. The administrative department in charge of standardization under the State Council shall, on the basis of feedback, evaluations and reviews on the implementation of standards, handle overlaps or inconsistencies between standards with relevant administrative departments under the State Council or via the State Council's standardization coordination mechanism.

Article 31. People's governments at or above the county level shall support pilot and demonstration projects and publicity work concerning standardization, disseminate standardization concepts, spread standardization experiences, promote the use of standardization methods throughout society for organizing production, business, management and services, and make the most of the supporting role of standards for encouraging industrial transformation and upgrading and driving innovations.

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Chapter IV Supervision and Administration

Article 32. Administrative departments in charge of standardization and relevant administrative department of people's governments at or above the county level shall, in accordance with their statutory duties, guide and supervise the development of standards, and inspect and supervise the implementation of standards.

Article 33. Where disagreements arise among relevant administrative departments under the State Council in the course of developing or implementing standards, the administrative department in charge of standardization under the State Council shall arrange consultations. Where consultations fail, such matters shall be resolved using the State Council's standardization coordination mechanism.

Article 34. Where relevant administrative departments under the State Council or administrative departments in charge of standardization of local people's governments at or above the level of a city divided into districts fail to carry out numbering, reviews or registration of standards in accordance with this law, the administrative department in charge of standardization under the State Council shall require them to clarify the situations and make rectifications within a prescribed time limit.

Article 35. Any organization or individual shall have the right to report or submit a complaint concerning a violation of a provision of this law to an administrative department in charge of standardization or a relevant administrative department.

Administrative departments in charge of standardization or relevant administrative departments shall make public their telephone numbers, mailing addresses or email addresses for receiving reports or complaints, and arrange for staff to respond to these reports or complaints. Administrative departments that receive reports or complaints from people using their real names shall keep their personal information confidential and inform them of how matters have been handled, and awards shall be given to people who submit reports in accordance with relevant provisions of the State.

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Chapter V Legal Liability

Article 36. Civil liability shall be borne by organizations or individuals who produce, sell or import products or provide services that do not meet mandatory standards, or by enterprises that produce products or provide services that do not meet the technical requirements of the enterprise standards they have disclosed.

Article 37. Any organization or individual who produces, sells or imports products or provides services that do not meet mandatory standards shall be investigated and dealt with in accordance with the Product Quality law of the People’s Republic China on Import and Export Commodity Inspection, the law of the People’s Republic China on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests and other laws and administrative regulations. The same shall be recorded on their credit history and made public in accordance with relevant laws and administrative regulations. Where a crime is constituted, criminal liability shall be investigated in accordance with the law.

Article 38. Where an enterprise fails to disclose the standards, it implements in accordance with the provisions of this law, an administrative department in charge of standardization shall order it to make rectification within a prescribed time limit. Those enterprises failing to make the rectification shall be announced on a public service platform for standardization information.

Article 39. Where standards developed by relevant administrative departments of the State Council or administrative departments in charge of standardization of local people’s governments at or above the level of a city divided into districts are not in compliance with the provisions of the first paragraph of Article 21 and the first paragraph of Article 22 of this law, the said departments shall promptly rectify the situation. Where the said departments refuse to rectify, such standards shall be abolished through an announcement by the administrative department in charge of standardization under the State Council, and responsible leaders and the directly responsible personnel shall be punished in accordance with the law.

Where standards developed by social organizations or enterprises are not in compliance with the provisions of the first paragraph of Article 21 and the first paragraph of Article 22 of this law, the said social organizations or enterprises shall be ordered by relevant administrative departments in charge of standardization to rectify the situation within a prescribed time limit. Where the said social organizations or enterprises refuse to rectify within the prescribed time limit, such standards shall be abolished by relevant administrative departments in charge of standardization of people’s governments at or above the provincial level and the matter shall be announced on a public service platform for standardization information.

Any organization or individual who, in violation of the second paragraph of Article 22 of this law, uses standards to prevent or restrain market competition shall be dealt with in accordance with the provisions of the Anti-Monopoly Law of the People’s Republic of China and other relevant laws and administrative regulations.

Article 40. Where relevant administrative departments of the State Council and administrative departments in charge of standardization of local people’s governments at or above the level of a city divided into districts fail to carry out numbering or registration of standards in accordance with provisions of this law, and they fail to make rectifications in accordance with the provisions of Article 34 of this law, the administrative department in charge of standardization under the State Council shall withdraw numbers of relevant standards or announce the abolition of standards that have not been registered, and the responsible leaders and directly responsible personnel shall be punished in accordance with the law.

Where relevant administrative departments of the State Council and administrative departments in charge of standardization of local people’s governments at or above the level of a city divided into districts fail to review the standards they have developed in accordance with the provisions of this law, and they fail to make rectifications in accordance with the provisions of Article 34 of this law, responsible leaders and directly responsible personnel shall be punished in accordance with the law.

Article 41. Where the administrative department in charge of standardization under the State Council fails to approve proposals for developing mandatory national standards in accordance with the second paragraph of Article 10 of this law, or the standards it has developed fail to conform to the provisions of the first paragraph of Article 21 and the first paragraph of Article 22 of this law, or it fails to number, review or register standards in accordance with the provisions of this law, it shall promptly make rectifications, and responsible leaders and directly responsible personnel shall be punished in accordance with the law.

Article 42. Where social organizations and enterprises fail to have their association standards or enterprise standards numbered in accordance with the provision of this law, administrative departments in charge of standardization shall order them to make rectifications within a prescribed time limit. Where they fail to make rectifications, administrative departments in charge of standardization of people’s governments at or above the provincial level shall withdraw numbers of relevant standards and announce the same on a public service platform for standardization information.

Article 43. Where persons in charge of supervision and administration of standardization are involved in the abuse of power, dereliction of duty, favoritism and malpractice, they shall be punished in accordance with the law, and where a crime is constituted, they shall be investigated for criminal liability in accordance with the law.

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Chapter VI Supplementary Provisions

Article 44. The measures for developing, implementing and supervising military standards shall be formulated by the State Council and the Central Military Commission.

Article 45. This law shall come into force on January 1, 2018.

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