When it comes to setting standards, China has a checkered past, with its efforts often stymied by impractical specifications, long approval delays and a general resistance to bureaucratic dictums among companies.
However, China is well aware that the development of domestic technology standards is essential to promoting innovation and for protecting indigenous companies and markets. Because of this, the government is pursuing an ambitious set of technology standards that address key areas including Audio Video Coding (AVS), automotive electronics, 3G mobile phones, mobile television, wireless networks and digital terrestrial television broadcasting. These standards are having a major impact on the high-technology business in China.
“Certainly, China has—for the moment—lost opportunities to influence international standards in many traditional industrial sectors,” said Byron Wu, director of China research for iSuppli. “However, the Chinese government is focusing increased attention on standards for high-tech industries. This is a lucrative area facing fierce competition. It’s also a strategically vital sector where China is more likely to achieve a ‘great leap forward’ in the future as it strengthens its research and development capabilities.”
Compared to the central government’s sense of urgency and commitment for action, Chinese companies are passive followers in their approach to standards, Wu noted. Very few companies actually have participated in the standards development process, despite the fact they will be impacted enormously by the implementation of such specifications.
There are several major technology standards that have been released or are now under development that will have a major influence on high-technology markets in China, including:

• The digital terrestrial television broadcast standard, which will go into effect on Aug. 1.
• The AVS standard, which passed the Ministry of Information Industry (MII)’s examination in December 2005 and became a recommended standard on Mar. 1, 2006.
• Automotive specifications covering areas including sensors, testing, diagnostics, electromagnetic compatibility and networking and interface protocols.
• The TD-SCDMA 3G mobile-phone standard, which is being used on a trial basis by 20,000 consumers in China.
• The mobile TV standard, which is yet to be determined by China’s State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT).
• WiMAX wireless broadband, a technology that remains in a trial period in China.

How will these standards impact companies, technologies and markets in China? Find out by reading iSuppli’s newly released white paper, entitled: The Progress and Pitfalls of China’s Technical Standards. The paper offers a detailed analysis of each standard and studies their impact on China’s high-technology industry.

For a free copy of this informative white paper, please visit: http://www.isuppli.com/whitepapers/