ANSI President Meets Chinese Officials in DC and Beijing.

Press Release Summary:



S. Joe Bhatia met with top officials from Chinese entities in Washington, DC and Beijing for trade-related activities aimed at fostering greater U.S.-China cooperation concerning standardization and conformity assessment. In addition to garnering renewed promises of continued cooperation, Bhatia proposed high-level U.S.-China events, to be held in 2012, focused on transparency to continue to address issues at hand. Chinese officials were very receptive to this idea.



Original Press Release:



ANSI President S. Joe Bhatia Meets with Chinese Officials in Washington, DC and Beijing



American National Standards Institute (ANSI) president and CEO S. Joe Bhatia recently met with several top officials from Chinese entities in Washington, DC, and Beijing for a series of trade-related activities aimed at fostering greater U.S-China cooperation in the areas of standardization and conformity assessment. U.S. exports to China have increased 468% since 2000, making China the United States' third-largest export market and one of the nation's largest trading partners in the world.

Building upon the Institute's strong relationships with high-level officials in China, Mr. Bhatia met with Administrator Sun Dawei of the Certification and Accreditation Administration of China (CNCA) on October 14 in Washington, DC, to discuss continued cooperation under the ANSI-CNCA Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). Signed in 2008, the MoU formalized the organizations' commitment to cooperate on conformity assessment activities in the interest of U.S.-China trade.

During their meeting, Mr. Bhatia and Mr. Sun also furthered plans to continue the U.S.-China Conformity Assessment Project (CAP). Led by the U.S. Department of Commerce with support from ANSI and the U.S.-China Business Council (USCBC), the project facilitates roundtable discussions between representatives from U.S. and Chinese industry and government, and conformity assessment practitioners.

On October 19-21, Mr. Bhatia traveled to Beijing for meetings with key partners in China. During his two-day visit, Mr. Bhatia met with Administrator Chen Gang of the Standardization Administration of China (SAC), Vice Administrator Xie Jun of the Certification and Accreditation Administration of China; and Ge Zhirong, advisor to the State Council.

Both SAC and CNCA committed to continue their involvement in 2012 in cooperative initiatives such as the ANSI Manufacturer Member Roundtable in China and other workshops related to U.S.-China trade. Recent such programs have put ANSI members in touch with front-line perspectives on priority issues including transparency, intellectual property rights, China's Restrictions on Hazardous Substances (RoHS), and conformity assessment.

In order to continue to address these issues, Mr. Bhatia proposed the idea of high-level U.S.-China events focused on transparency, to be held in 2012. The Chinese officials were very receptive to this idea, and ANSI will be working with staff at the key ministries to finalize details. ANSI and SAC also committed to enhance cooperation in international standardization forums including the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).

ANSI leadership meets frequently with Chinese officials, as an important step in maintaining the relationships that make member initiatives possible. Mr. Bhatia's meetings in October build upon the visits of CNCA and SAC to Washington in December 2010 and January 2011, and ANSI vice president of international policy Gary Kushnier's visit to Beijing in June 2010.

For more information about the October meetings or other ANSI China program activities, please contact Elise Owen, ANSI director of international development, at intl@ansi.org.

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