A recent webcast hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) explores the role of China in international standards setting and implications for U.S. industry, as China steadily increases its engagement and leadership in global standardization.
During the May 28, 2020, virtual event, available online, S. Joe Bhatia, president and CEO of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), joined John J. Hamre, CSIS president and CEO and Langone Chair in American Leadership in a discussion, Is China Gaining on America as the Leading Standards-Setter for New Technologies and Products?
"No relationship is perhaps more important today than the relationship we have with China," said Bhatia. "Our country is at a critical juncture in terms of our relationship with China, and we trust our efforts on the political and diplomatic fronts will ultimately bring positive results," he said. "Standardization is a long game. Administrations change, policies shift, but standardization endures and evolves."
He noted how ANSI has had a long history of engagement with various stakeholders in China. Since 1980, ANSI has had a cooperative agreement with the Standardization Administration of China (SAC), a central government agency and the national standards body of China. In 2006, ANSI established a dedicated ANSI in China program to address the significant increase in the importance of standards and regulations in China and its relation to the U.S. standardization community and U.S. industry.
Mr. Bhatia also elaborated on ANSI's active work with the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA)-funded U.S.-China Standards and Conformity Assessment Cooperation Program, through which U.S. and Chinese industries can discuss areas of importance and mutual benefit, and discussed ANSI's Memoranda of Understanding with Chinese organizations focusing on conformity assessment, medical products, automotive research, and other important industries. Over the past 5 years, Mr. Bhatia has served as a designated foreign advisor to the China Standardization Expert Committee.
The session also covered 5G, how restrictions on Huawei impact the approach to standards setting, and wide-reaching China's Belt and Road Initiative, which started with countries that border China and now includes nearly 70 countries.
"From our perspective, it is in the interest of the U.S. and international stakeholders to encourage constructive Chinese participation in international activities, so that we all work towards a common solution," Bhatia emphasized.
Listen to the webcast, the second in a series of virtual conferences hosted by the Langone Chair at CSIS, which highlights how standardization is a foundation for American prosperity.
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