The world's first universal framework for digital product passports made its debut in Beijing on Friday, expected to boost the smooth and stable operation of global supply and industrial chains.
The framework, developed by the Zhongguangcun Industry and Information Research Institute of Two-dimensional Code Technology and international institutes, offers foundational services and public infrastructure for digital product passports.
The digital product passport is datasets that record a product's identity and lifecycle information. It verifies a product's origin, identity, and sustainability credentials in international trade.
The unveiled framework includes unified identifier rules, the data model architecture, and data exchange protocols. It provides cloud services, open APIs, and a basic structure to support collaborative development of global digital product passport systems.
"With the framework, third parties such as industry organizations and enterprises could achieve low-code development and rapidly turn out their own digital passport platforms," said Zhang Chao, secretary-general of the International Identification Code Industry Alliance and president of the Zhongguangcun Industry and Information Research Institute of Two-dimensional Code Technology.
Globally, digital product passport development have faced challenges such as difficulty in data interconnection due to the lack of identifier rules, incompatible formats, and absence of unified exchange protocols.
China's framework aims to overcome these bottlenecks and set a precedent for international cooperation.
"It will promote the development of digital product passports and the management throughout their lifecycle, accelerate the digital, green, and intelligent transformation of manufacturing, and empower domestic brands to go out of the country," said Wen Bin, deputy director of China Academy of Industrial Internet.
Universal framework for digital product passports debuts in Beijing
China's development blueprint for the 2026-2030 period will create strong market opportunities for industries worldwide, said Judy Marks, president and CEO of American elevator maker Otis, in Beijing on Sunday. The China Development Forum 2026 began on Sunday in Beijing. With the theme of "China in Its 15th Five-Year Plan Period: Advancing High-Quality Development and Creating New Opportunities Together," the two-day event is bringing together global officials, industry leaders, and experts for 13 thematic sessions and a series of closed-door discussions, covering topics including new trends in consumption growth, green and low-carbon transition, the development of future industries, and the industrial application of artificial intelligence (AI).
In an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) on the sidelines of the event, Marks shared her insights on the significant role of China's research capabilities and market environment for the global economy.
She said that Otis's research and development center in China, leveraging local resources, is well-positioned to advance its innovation strategy.
"So I would tell you to us in China, it's an innovation hub and an agility engine. And, that really describes China for us. We do work in China for China, but we also do both manufacturing and development and research for the rest of the world. And China, in Shanghai, has our largest development team of anywhere in the world. It makes us go faster. It's AI and digital driven -- and it really allows us to set the benchmark," said Marks.
She said that China is advancing rapidly in areas including smart cities and digital infrastructure, developments that will bring new opportunities and shape the future of the global elevator industry.
"Now to us, the world is digital and connected. They're the two highest priorities we have. If an elevator is part of an ecosystem in the building, we can share information with transportation systems, with energy systems. As China pursues even more of a low carbon world, our elevators actually push power back into the building and capture power when they break with our regenerative drives," she said.
Speaking of China's recently-approved 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030), aimed at expanding high-level opening up and driving high-quality development, Marks described it as highly encouraging for multinational companies.
"I would tell you everything we see in the 15th Five-Year Plan is encouraging: high-quality development, which is a commitment from the government and the whole ecosystem to serve its citizens, digitalization, urban renewal -- all of this combines. It's created a large market for a company like Otis. It's where we're going to invest, and it's in sync with our strategy and our mission," she said.
China's development blueprint brings opportunities to global industries: Otis CEO
