High standards are a guarantee of high quality. High-quality products and services are not only related to the improvement of the quality of life and the protection of property safety, but also directly related to the lives and health of the people. The country has always attached great importance to this. Not long ago, the State Council Information Office held a press conference to introduce the results of China’s standardization reform and development. Relevant reforms and system construction have effectively promoted the construction of a quality country.
From ancient China’s “cars running on the same track and books running on the same text” to modern industrial large-scale production, they are all vivid practices of standardization. By improving standardization construction, public interests can be effectively protected from damage. For example, setting a higher “threshold” for design and production standards will help improve product quality; companies organizing production according to high standards will help standardize high-quality, high-efficiency operations on the assembly line; inspection and testing agencies will test product raw materials, parts, production links, etc. according to high standards to ensure that products entering the market meet the prescribed indicators. This closed-loop quality management from design, production to market circulation, if any link leaves the standard, quality cannot be guaranteed. Only by streamlining and optimizing the government standards system, improving the effective supply of market standards, and improving the level of international standards can we better improve the overall quality of standards and promote high-quality development with high-standard construction.
First, streamline and optimize government standards to effectively protect public interests. In this regard, the relevant reforms in recent years have first been “subtraction”, that is, “integration and streamlining of mandatory standards” and “optimization and improvement of recommended standards”, which not only “controls what should be managed well”, but also leaves room for the cultivation and development of market standards. At the same time, in accordance with legal requirements, only the first level of mandatory national standards is stipulated, and they are only formulated within the scope of ensuring health and safety and economic and social management needs. Industry and local standards are no longer mandatory but are recommended standards, which can not only establish a solid bottom line for quality and safety, but also avoid overlapping and duplication of standards. This is to use legal means to “downsize” the government standards system and promote the transition from recommended standards to public welfare standards to better meet the needs of all parties and coordinate the interests of all parties.
Secondly, cultivate and invigorate market standards to improve quality and competitiveness. The reform of standardization work must give full play to the decisive role of the market in resource allocation. In response to the practical problem of missing and aging standards in my country, two “additions” have been made to the relevant reforms, namely “cultivating and developing group standards” and “liberalizing and revitalizing enterprise standards”. The legal status of “group standards” has been further clarified. With this new type of market standard, associations, chambers of commerce and other groups have the right to formulate more flexible standards and respond to market changes in a timely manner. In addition, enterprises are given the autonomy to formulate their own standards and the restrictive regulations on enterprise standard registration are removed, which will help stimulate the vitality of enterprises and promote industrial transformation and upgrading.
Finally, aim at international standards and improve the overall level of standards. On the basis of doing a good job of “addition and subtraction”, the relevant reforms will “optimize” the overall level of standards, that is, in addition to drawing on the basic experience of international standards, actively promote all parties to participate in international standardization activities. On the one hand, this stipulates the content of participation to promote the transformation and application of international standards, help improve the overall quality of our standards, and share the advantages of quality development; on the other hand, it also provides institutional support for the country to encourage all parties in society, including enterprises and associations, to participate in international standardization, further promote the “going global” of Chinese standards, and drive the “going global” of products, technology, equipment and services.
President Xi Jinping pointed out in his congratulatory letter to the 39th International Organization for Standardization Conference that “standards promote innovation and development, and standards lead the progress of the times.” Better giving full play to the role of the government to protect public interests, and effectively using the role of the market to meet the needs of enterprises to improve quality and efficiency, we will surely make standards a “hard constraint” on quality and successfully promote high-quality development.