Beijing spearheads formulation of over 500 int'l standards in past 5 years

Beijing-based institutions have spearheaded the formulation of more than 500 international standards and over 6,000 national standards over the past five years, according to data released Thursday at the Forum on Standardization and Science and Technology Innovation Development, a parallel event of the 2026 Zhongguancun Forum (ZGC Forum) Annual Conference.

As the need for regulated practices arises across emerging technological sectors, these figures underscore the Chinese capital's growing influence in global standard-setting.

Beijing now hosts 54 secretariats of technical committees under the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the highest number among all Chinese cities.

Notably, 28 group standards in emerging fields, including next-generation information technology and blockchain, have been selected in the first batch for adoption as recommended national standards.

As the only parallel forum dedicated exclusively to standardization at this year's ZGC Forum Annual Conference, the event highlighted Beijing's phased achievements in building a robust standards ecosystem.

The forum also featured demonstrations of how standardization is enabling breakthrough applications in frontier technologies, from artificial intelligence to quantum computing and brain-computer interfaces.

Attendees at the forum emphasized that these efforts aim to establish a "Chinese benchmark" for fostering new quality productive forces on the global stage.

The 2026 ZGC Forum Annual Conference opened in Beijing on Wednesday, attracting over 1,000 guests from more than 100 countries and regions worldwide to explore how cutting-edge technologies are being adopted across various sectors and increasingly interwoven at the industrial level.

Themed "Full Integration Between Technological and Industrial Innovation," the forum will run until Sunday, with the event highlighting the current wave of sci-tech innovations and focusing on frontier fields such as 6G, brain-computer interfaces, and cell and gene therapies.

Beijing spearheads formulation of over 500 int'l standards in past 5 years

China's green transition endeavor contributes to the global fight against climate change and inspires other countries to move towards renewable energy, said Andrew Forrest, executive chairman and founder of Australian mining giant Fortescue, at the plenary of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) Annual Conference 2026 on Thursday in Boao, south China's Hainan Province.

Running from Tuesday to Friday, this year's conference is themed "Shaping a Shared Future: New Dynamics, New Opportunities, New Cooperation."

While addressing the plenary, Forrest, also a member of the BFA board of directors, said China's pursuit of zero-carbon growth signals the nation takes environmental and economic wellbeing into consideration, and Australia has enhanced cooperation with China on sustainable development.

"China is going green because it understands what is happening with climate change, but also because economically it makes huge sense for China. And so I congratulate all those nations and I see them in front of me who are going to new energy, going to new materials, going to new green steel, as Australia is working hard to do with China, with huge partnerships in the making," he said.

During his speech, Forrest called on countries to join China in shifting to clean energy sources for the benefit of their own people and others around the world.

"So I ask all of us now take the lead of China, which is acting in the best interest of each of its people, to lower the cost of living and increase the standard of living. And let us all humanity move to green energy," he said.

Founded in 2001, the BFA is a non-governmental and non-profit international organization committed to promoting regional economic integration and bringing Asian countries closer to their development goals.

China's green transition powers global sustainable development: Australian mining tycoon