On March 16, 2026, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) released a draft plan of the five mandatory national standard projects focusing on smart home interconnection and intercommunication, with a public consultation period from March 17 to March 23.

The five proposed standards are titled:

• Interconnection and intercommunication of smart home – Part 1: Requirements for LAN access
• Interconnection and intercommunication of smart home – Part2: Test method for LAN access
• Interconnection and intercommunication of smart home – Part 3: Public instruction set
• Interconnection and intercommunication of smart home – Part 4: Thing model
• Interconnection and intercommunication of smart home – Part 5: Security Specifications

The drafting organizations include the China Household Electric Appliance Research Institute (CHEARI), the China Electronics Standardization Institute (CESI), and the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT). The development of foreign language versions will be carried out in parallel once the standard drafts are relatively complete. According to the draft plan, these five mandatory national standards collectively establish a complete technical framework for smart home interconnection and intercommunication, covering connectivity, operation, and security.

Part 1 Requirements for LAN access addresses “how to connect.” It specifies general requirements, interface protocols, data formats, and security mechanisms for the full device lifecycle—from discovery, network configuration, and authentication to control, status reporting, and maintenance upgrades—building an open and compatible LAN communication framework. The standard will remain consistent with the requirements of T/CHEAA 0049—2025 Technical requirements for local interconnection of smart home and the GB/T 38052 series Interoperability of smart household appliances system, but covers a broader range of smart home products.

Part 2 Test method for LAN access focuses on “how to test.” It defines test environments, test requirements, and corresponding test methods to verify product compliance and interoperability in the above-mentioned key processes like discovery. The standard will align with GB/T 38052.7-2023 Interoperability of smart household appliances system – Part 7: Specification for conformance test.

Part 3 Public instruction set tackles “what to say and how to be understood.” It specifies the types, data formats, and data encoding of public instruction sets for interoperability. The standard will remain consistent with the requirements of GB/T 36428-2018 Public instruction set of IoT household electrical appliance, but covers a broader range of smart home products.

Part 4 Thing model covers “how a device describes itself.” It specifies file naming rules, structural composition, and functional point parameter requirements for the thing model, enabling automatic device recognition by platforms. Compared with YD/T 4915-2024 General technical requirement of loT thing model, the standard will be more focused on smart home products themselves.

Part 5 Security Specifications establishes the security baseline. It specifies security baseline requirements and corresponding test methods for smart home interconnection, including communication security, data security, application security, remote upgrade, and privacy protection. This part does not cover functional safety requirements. For Part 5, China has existing IoT security standards including:

• GB/T 37044-2018 Information security technology—Security reference model and generic requirements for internet of things
• GB/T 36951-2018 Information security technology—Security technical requirements for application of sensing terminals in internet of things
• GB/T 37093-2018 Information security technology—Security requirements for IoT sensing layer access to communication network
• GB/T 37024-2018 Information security technology－Security technical requirements of gateway in sensing layer of the internet of things
• GB/T 37025-2018 Information security technology－Security technical requirements of data transmission for internet of things
• GB/T 41387-2022 Information security technology—Smart home general security specification

However, a mandatory security baseline specifically for interconnected smart home products is currently lacking.

Internationally, ISO, IEC, and ITU currently have no technical standards specifically addressing IP-based LAN access for smart home interconnection. In the security domain, existing international frameworks include ISO/IEC 27402:2023 Cybersecurity – IoT security and privacy – Device baseline requirements, the U.S. NISTIR 8425 Profile of the IoT Core Baseline for Consumer Products and its IoT security labeling program, the EU’s ETSI EN 303 645 Cyber Security for Consumer Internet of Things: Baseline Requirements and ETSI TS 103 701 Cyber Security for Consumer Internet of Things: Conformance Assessment of Baseline Requirements, and specifications from the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA). According to the draft plan, the above standards cover parts of the smart home industry, but do not provide targeted specifications for the interconnected smart home industry. China will coordinate its industrial realities with relevant international and domestic technical standards to develop those proposed standards.

European enterprises in China support the national effort to develop mandatory smart home interconnection standards. However, they recommend that the scope of application, product categories, and scenarios be carefully considered to avoid unnecessary expansion. They also suggest that the architecture of the standards be open to major international standards, allowing bridging as a means of connection, and call for the participation of foreign enterprises in the standardization process, as well as the establishment of an open and transparent decision-making mechanism based on international best practices.

China’s development of mandatory smart home interconnection standards is a strategic move to address domestic industry fragmentation and enhance its international influence in standardization. For European stakeholders, these standards present both a challenge of higher compliance barriers and an opportunity to participate in shaping standards for one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing smart home markets. The ultimate impact will depend on the degree of compatibility between the proposed standards and prevailing international standards. SESEC will keep following the development of the standards series.

Source: https://wap.miit.gov.cn/jgsj/kjs/jscx/bzgf/art/2026/art_ba594c8694c84a3fb737b7a8e531ebc5.html