China becomes a standing member of ISO

According to SAC, China formally becomes a standing member of ISO at the 31st ISO General Assembly finished on Oct. 16, which is held in Dubai. It is known that ISO Council is the central decision-making organ of ISO consisting of 18 members. There are 5 standing members before the Assembly in 18 members, and they are USA, Germany, France, Britain, and Japan. They are voted by the other 13 members for a 2-year term and shall not serve more than two consecutive terms. The Assembly passed resolutions of revising ISO Constitution, and enlarging the number of ISO standing members. According to ISO contribution rate, China ranks 6th and formally becomes a standing member of ISO. This is for the first time China becomes a standing member of ISO high class organization since China joined ISO in 1978, marking a historical breakthrough of our standardization work. It is introduced that in order to implement fully scientific development concept, according to a series of indications of the Central Party Committee and the State Council, SAC formulates the development goals of our standardization work in 2 periods from 2006 to 2020. One important task is to make breakthrough in international standardization work and become a standing committee of ISO to gain speaking right in high class of ISO. In recent years, SAC has greatly implemented 12 reform measures, especially the strategic guide line of giving priority to enterprise, actively guided and promoted the participation of our major enterprises in international standardization activities, realized the fast development of our standardization work, and achieved it that our contribution rate to ISO overpasses other developed countries. With the joint cooperation of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Science and Technology and AQSIQ, China becomes a standing member of ISO 12 years before the original plan. Chinese delegation attending the Assembly consists of representatives from SAC, Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Finance, and local quality and technical supervision bureaus. Related principals express that we should realize clearly the distance between our standardization work and advanced international level when we celebrate China becoming a standing committee of ISO. We should make full use of this chance to promote our participation in international standardization activities, consolidate our foundation of participating in international standardization activities, and contribute more to sustainable development and construction of a harmoniuos society.