China revises industrial standards regulation

Workers process textile products at a home textile company in Wendeng District of Weihai City, east China's Shandong Province, July 21, 2023. (Xinhua/Guo Xulei)

BEIJING, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- China's top market regulator on Tuesday released a revised regulation on industrial standards with a focus on preventing the use of the standards to restrict competition.

The regulation, which will come into effect on June 1, 2024, aims at continuously improving the business environment and unleashing the vitality of business entities, according to the State Administration for Market Regulation.

It prohibits various acts, including using industrial standards to set incentive qualifications, issue licenses and certifications, make approvals and registrations, as well as forming evaluation standards.

It also forbids the government to exclude and restrict market competition through industrial standards, while encouraging the publicization of the standards on the national public service platform for public information.

In the first three quarters of this year, some 1,971 new national standards were approved and issued, soaring 110.6 percent year on year.