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China Releases 515 National Standards: What Foreign Founders Need to Know
China's market regulator approved 515 national standards covering AI, semiconductors, traditional industries, safety, and consumer products. Here's how foreign founders can use this to guide compliance and operations.
China Releases 515 National Standards: What Foreign Founders Need to Know
On October 23, 2026, China's State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), which also acts as the National Standardization Administration, approved and published 515 important national standards and national standardization guiding technical documents. This batch includes 10 mandatory national standards, 466 recommended national standards, and 39 guiding technical documents. The standards span high-tech, traditional industries, safety production, and daily life. According to SAMR, these standards will play an important role in promoting high-quality industrial development, improving people's quality of life, and safeguarding life and property safety.
For foreign founders registering or operating a company in China, these standards signal upcoming compliance requirements and market opportunities. Understanding them can help you align product development, certification, and operations with Chinese regulations.
High-Tech Sector Standards
The new standards include several measures relevant to technology companies:
- Artificial intelligence and robotics: 16 standards for AI, humanoid robots, and industrial environment robots, covering AI system safety and robot technical requirements. These set safety baselines and unify technical specifications to support high-quality development of the robotics and AI industries.
- Semiconductors and integrated circuits: 14 standards to regulate the semiconductor industry, strengthen supply chain resilience, and support technological self-reliance.
- Optical computing and intelligent computing: 7 standards for optical computing, intelligent computing clusters, and related fields, unifying evaluation benchmarks and consolidating computing infrastructure.
- Photovoltaics and new energy storage: 4 standards for photovoltaic and new energy storage technical requirements, supporting safe and efficient development of new energy.
Foreign founders in these sectors should monitor how these standards are implemented, as they may affect product certification and market access.
Traditional Industry Standards
Standards for traditional industries focus on upgrading quality and supporting green transitions:
- Ship and marine engineering: 25 standards for marine diesel generator sets, marine check valves, and remote operation and maintenance systems for offshore platforms, providing support for research, safe operation, and green transformation.
- Aerospace: 12 standards for aircraft static converters and civil aircraft powerplant system terminology, offering technical criteria for design and manufacturing.
- Equipment manufacturing: 49 standards for rolling bearings, reciprocating internal combustion engines, and EDM machines, helping improve the quality of core components.
- Building materials: 26 standards for photovoltaic glass, concrete, and cement, supporting green and low-carbon transformation.
- Raw materials: 11 standards for steel and alloys, non-ferrous metal materials, and vanadium-titanium magnetite, strengthening quality assurance for basic raw materials.
If your company manufactures or imports products in these areas, these standards may affect testing and certification procedures.
Safety Production Standards
Safety-related standards include mandatory requirements that foreign companies must comply with:
- Public safety: 7 mandatory national standards for intelligent connected vehicle spatiotemporal data security and fire safety, focusing on data protection and urban-rural fire risk prevention. These refine data security baselines and rules for fire products and premises management.
- Social governance: 8 national standards for hazardous materials management, urban public facility operation and maintenance, and forest and grassland fire prevention. Three guiding technical documents cover community and business continuity resilience. These focus on grassroots safety control and risk resistance, standardizing operation and maintenance requirements and refining reconstruction planning and emergency plan processes.
Foreign founders should note that mandatory standards are legally binding and non-compliance can lead to penalties.
Consumer Product Standards
Standards affecting daily life include:
- Spices and condiments: A standard for names of spices and condiments, regulating Chinese and English names and used parts of plant-based products.
- Paper products: 12 standards for toilet paper and products, wallpaper, etc., optimizing performance and quality to meet high-quality consumer demand.
- Education services: 6 standards for elderly learning and educational organizations, clarifying management systems and service requirements for elderly learners, supporting vocational education brands and promoting Sino-foreign vocational education cooperation.
- Sports equipment: 2 standards for cycling sports glasses and esports equipment configuration, guiding expanded sports and fitness consumption.
These standards can inform product design and marketing for consumer goods companies targeting Chinese consumers.
Practical Steps for Foreign Founders
To navigate these new standards:
- Identify relevant standards: Review the list of 515 standards to see which apply to your products or services. Mandatory standards require immediate attention.
- Update compliance protocols: Ensure your quality control and testing procedures align with the new requirements, especially for safety-related standards.
- Leverage standards for market entry: Compliance with Chinese standards can be a competitive advantage and facilitate market access.
- Monitor implementation: Standards may have transition periods; stay informed through official channels or consult with local experts.
ChinaMNC can assist foreign founders with company registration and ongoing compliance. For support, contact us on WhatsApp or WeChat at +86 153 1898 8535.
This summary is based on information published by the relevant Chinese government website and is general information, not legal or tax advice.