China will promote standardization to accelerate industrial upgrading: premier

China will promote standardization to push industrial upgrades and foster new competitive edges, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said on Wednesday.

Standardization represents a country's core industrial competitiveness and overall prowess and China will highlight standardization as part of its reform agenda, Li said while addressing the ongoing 39th International Organization for Standardization (ISO) General Assembly.

China will speed up the development of standards for emerging sectors, technology and business models to promote innovation and entrepreneurship while forcing out outdated production capacity, Li said.

The standardization strategy should be integrated with "Made in China 2025," the country's manufacturing modernization plan, to help boost the manufacturing sector's competitiveness. Efforts should be made to develop standards for core technologies, he said.

The government encourages entrepreneurs and companies to make full use of standardization to offer higher quality products to customers and will standardize government management to streamline administration and improve efficiency, the premier said.

He called for enhanced global cooperation on standardization to expand the use of international standards while guarding against protectionism and abuse of standards and reducing technological barriers.

Countries should improve coordination and mutual recognition of standards while implementing standardization throughout the industrial chain, Li said.

The international standardization mechanism should be more balanced and inclusive, with more support for participation by developing countries to ensure sustainable, robust, balanced and inclusive global economic growth, Li added. Endi