PRC Standards System: standards Used in China
Chinese standards may be either mandatory or voluntary. Mandatory standards [1] have the force of law as do other technical regulations in China. They are enforced by laws and administrative regulations and concern the protection of human health, personal property and safety. All standards that fall outside of these characteristics are considered voluntary standards.
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There are four levels of Chinese standards. The most widely implemented are the
These levels are hierarchical, so that Local Standards supersede Enterprise Standards,
Professional Standards supersede Local Standards, etc. For any given product or service, only one type of Chinese standard will apply.
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National Standards
National Standards are often referred to as “GB standards”. They are consistent across all of China and are developed for technical requirements.
As of 2006, there were a total of 21,410 Chinese national GB standards, among which approximately 15% were mandatory, and 85% voluntary [2].
Chinese national GB standards can be identified as mandatory or voluntary by their prefix code, as indicated below:
| Code |
Content |
| GB |
Mandatory National Standards |
| GB/T |
Voluntary National Standards |
| GB/Z |
National Guiding Technical Documents |
Many Chinese national GB standards are adoptions from ISO, IEC or other international standards developers.
(As of 2006, nearly half of all Chinese national GB standards were adoptions of international standards and “advanced foreign standards”.)
China has also expressed a goal of significantly increasing the number of standards that are adoptions of international or advanced foreign standards. [3]
The database of Chinese national GB standards provides information on which standards have been adopted.
Professional Standards
Professional Standards are often referred to as “Industry Standards”. They are developed and applied when no National GB Standard exists, but where a unified technical requirement is needed for a specific industry sector in China. Professional standards are coded by industry sector. The codes of mandatory standards are shown in the following table, and the codes of voluntary standards have "/T" added after the mandatory codes. For example, the code for agricultural voluntary standards is "NY/T".
| Code |
Content |
| BB |
Packaging |
| CB |
Ship |
| CH |
Surveying |
| CJ |
Urban construction |
| CY |
Press and publication |
| DA |
Archives |
| DB |
Earthquake |
| DL |
Power |
| DZ |
Geology mineral |
| EJ |
Nuclear industry |
| FZ |
Textiles |
| GA |
Public security |
| GY |
Radio, film & TV |
| HB |
Aviation |
| HG |
Chemical Industry |
| HJ |
Environmental Protection
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| HS |
Customs |
| HY |
Ocean |
| JB |
Machinery |
| JC |
Building materials |
| JG |
Construction industry |
| JR |
Finance |
| JT |
Communication |
| JY |
Education |
| LB |
Tourism |
| LD |
Labor and labor safety |
| LY |
Forestry |
| MH |
Civil aviation |
| MT |
Coal |
|
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| Code |
Content |
| MZ |
Civil affairs |
| NY |
Agriculture |
| QB |
Light industry |
| QC |
Automobiles |
| QJ |
Space |
| QX |
Meteorology |
| SB |
Commerce |
| SC |
Water product |
| SH |
Petrol chemical industry |
| SJ |
Electronics |
| SL |
Water resources |
| SN |
Commodity inspection |
| SY |
Petroleum gas |
| SY(>10000) |
Oceanic petroleum gas |
| TB |
Railways transportation |
| TD |
Land administration |
| TY |
Sport |
| WB |
Goods |
| WH |
Culture |
| WJ |
Civil products from arms industry |
| WM |
Foreign trade |
| WS |
Hygiene |
| XB |
Rare earth |
| YB |
Ferrous metallurgy |
| YC |
Tobacco |
| YD |
Telecommunication |
| YS |
Non-ferrous metallurgy |
| YY |
Medicine |
| YZ |
Posts |
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Local Standards
Local standards are often referred to as “Provincial Standards”. They are developed when neither National Standards nor Professional Standards are available, but unified requirements for safety and hygiene of industrial products are needed within a local area. Local Standards are delineated with either “DB + *” (mandatory) or “DB + */T” (voluntary).
The codes for local standards are shown below. The * represents the province code as defined by the ISO 3166-2:CN and GB 2260/T, so a local voluntary standard in Sichuan Province would be DB + 51/T.
| Code |
Content |
| DB + * |
Mandatory local standards |
| DB + */T |
Voluntary local standards |
Enterprise Standards
Enterprise Standards may be developed and/or used by an individual company in China in cases where National Standards, Professional Standards and Local Standards aren't available. However, companies doing business in China are encouraged to use/adopt National Standards, Professional Standards and Local Standards if they are available.
The formula for determining an enterprise standards code is below, where the * represents the Enterprise code.
| Code |
Content |
| Q + * |
Enterprise standards |
