Belt and Road industrial standards to be introduced: official

China plans to adopt introduce industrial standards for countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative in an effort to boost trade and infrastructure development, a State Administration for Market Regulation official said Wednesday.

Cui Gang, head of the administration's division for standard innovation, said the efforts will mainly be carried out in areas with potential for cooperation, such as railways, electric cars, aviation, information technology, home appliances and traditional Chinese medicine.

"We'll work to make sure that Chinese standards in these areas are compatible with other regional players," he told a news conference organized by the State Council Information office in Beijing.

China has been working over the last few years to establish commonly accepted industrial standards, which officials say are the "common language" and "pass" for cross-border trade and partnerships in other sectors.

Cui's office said China had signed agreements with 52 countries and regions to ramp up standardization, many with the aim to advance the development of the initiative.

China has translated 580 of its own standards and is translating more to facilitate global partnerships.

It also help created a college alliance for standardization cooperation, which now counts 105 colleges from more than 30 countries and regions as members, it said.

Tian Shihong, deputy director of the administration, said China has been an active promoter of globally accepted standards and has carried out broad cooperation with standardization groups worldwide. An increasing number of Chinese experts are involved in the creating of world standards, he said.