07.02.

2017 StandardsUsednChna

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PRC Standards System: standards Used in China

PRC Information
Chinese standards may be either mandatory or voluntary. Mandatory standards
have the force of law as do other technical regulations in China. They are enforce
by laws and administrative regulations and concern the protection of human heal
personal property and safety. All standards that fall outside of these characteristi
Find GB Standards
are considered voluntary standards.
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There are four levels of Chinese standards. The most widely implemente
Standards Used in China are the

National Standards

Professional Standards

Local Standards
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Enterprise Standards
These levels are hierarchical, so that Local Standards supersede Enterpr
Standards, Professional Standards supersede Local Standards, etc. For a
given product or service, only one type of Chinese standard will apply.

National Standards
National Standards are often referred to as GB standards. They are consistent across all of China and are developed for techn
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 identi ed as mandatory or voluntary by their pre x
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, nea
half of all Chinese national GB standards were adoptions of international standards and advanced foreign standards.)
also expressed a goal of signi cantly increasing the number of standards that are adoptions of international or advanced foreig
standards. [3] The database of Chinese national GB standards provides information on which standards have been adopted.

Search Chinese National GB Standards for your product or service.

Purchase and download Chinese National GB Standards online.

Purchase and download ISO, IEC, and other standards online

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 uni ed technical requirement is needed for a speci c industry sector in China. Professional standa
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 Code Content

BB Packaging MZ Civil affairs

CB Ship NY Agriculture

CH Surveying QB Light industry

CJ Urban construction QC Automobiles

CY Press and publication QJ Space

DA Archives QX Meteorology

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DB Earthquake SB Commerce

DL Power SC Water product

DZ Geology mineral SH Petrol chemical industry

EJ Nuclear industry SJ Electronics

FZ Textiles SL Water resources

GA Public security SN Commodity inspection

GY Radio, lm & TV SY Petroleum gas

HB Aviation SY(>10000) Oceanic petroleum gas

HG Chemical Industry TB Railways transportation

HJ Environmental Protection TD Land administration

HS Customs TY Sport

HY Ocean WB Goods

JB Machinery WH Culture

JC Building materials WJ Civil products from arms industry

JG Construction industry WM Foreign trade

JR Finance WS Hygiene

JT Communication XB Rare earth

JY Education YB Ferrous metallurgy

LB Tourism YC Tobacco

LD Labor and labor safety YD Telecommunication

LY Forestry YS Non-ferrous metallurgy

MH Civil aviation YY Medicine

MT Coal YZ Posts

Local Standards
Local standards are often referred to as Provincial Standards. They are developed when neither National Standards nor
Professional Standards are available, but uni ed requirements for safety and hygiene of industrial products are needed within
local area. Local Standards are delineated with either DB + * (mandatory) or DB + */T (voluntary). The codes for local standa
are shown below. The * represents the province code as de ned 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

[1] In China, many technical regulations are developed under the Chinese standards system and are referred to as mandatory standards. In addition to
Chinese mandatory standards, individual Chinese agencies also develop regulatory requirements outside of the Chinese standards system.

[2] http://www.sac.gov.cn/templet/english/ShowArticle.jsp?id=3313

[3] http://www.sac.gov.cn/templet/english/ShowArticle.jsp?id=3582

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