From July 9 to 10, 2024, the 18th China-Japan-ROK ICT Standards Meeting (CJK-18) was held in Dunhuang, Gansu Province. The meeting, which was sponsored by the China Communications Standards Association (CCSA), saw the participation of 32 representatives from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), CCSA, as well as Japan’s Association of Radio Industries and Businesses (ARIB), Japan’s Telecommunications Technology Committee (TTC), and Korea’s Telecommunications Technology Association (TTA). CCSA delegation was headed by the Secretary General, Mr. Wen Ku; Ms. Wang Zhiqin, Chairman of CCSA’s TC5 (mobile communications), served as the chairman and presided over the meeting.

Mr. Wen Ku delivered the opening speech. On behalf of CCSA, he extended a warm welcome to all the participants, especially the representatives from Japan and South Korea. Mr Wen highlighted that the meeting coincided with the Dunhuang Silk Road spirit of mutual learning and inclusive exchanges among civilizations. He hoped that all parties would take advantage of the meeting to engage in in-depth exchanges on existing work, so as to jointly address various challenges facing technical and organizational development.

Mr. Lu Yang, Head of the Network Technology Division of MIIT’s Communications Development Department, pointed out that MIIT is supportive of exchanges and cooperation between the industry and standardization organizations of China, Japan and the ROK. He affirmed the important contribution of the trilateral information exchange mechanism on ICT standards to the exchanges and development of the ICT industries among the three countries. He also expressed the hope that China, Japan, and the ROK would continue to strengthen cooperation, jointly seize opportunities and meet challenges, and promote the high-quality development of the ICT industry.

At the meeting, China-Japan-ROK standard development organizations introduced their recent activities in terms of organization development, standard development, key research areas, and international cooperation. In the strategic seminar, experts from various organizations exchanged views on artificial intelligence (AI) issues, specifically focusing on three main aspects:

  • All parties believe that the empowerment of AI in the field of ICT/telecommunications will be increasingly significant; standardization thus representing an important approach to this empowerment.
  • All parties have worked on AI and its applications in the field of ICT, including the establishment of industrial cooperation platforms and the release of a series of flagship
  • All parties attach great importance to the safe and credible governance of AI. The approach to industry’s standardized practices was also discussed during the meeting.

In short, all parties agree that AI has great potential as an emerging strategic technology, and that standardization will be pivotal to enhance regulation, build trust, and ensure security.

During the meeting, various working groups provided an overview of their recent progress, including the working groups of International Mobile Communications (IMT), Information Security (IS), Wireless Power Transfer (WPT), etc. The meeting fully affirmed the work of each group and reached consensus on some topics.

At the end of the meeting, Ms. Dai Xiaohui, Vice Secretary General of CCSA, delivered a closing summary. She said that through this meeting, China-Japan-ROK shared numerous perspectives and views, and exchanged in-depth practical experience. All parties agreed on a number of common challenges facing the industry, as well as priorities for cutting-edge new technologies such as AI. These achievements are of great significance for the future development of the whole industry and lay a solid foundation for long-term cooperation.

The meeting confirmed that the next “China-Japan-ROK ICT Standards Meeting” will be held in Korea in 2025, hosted by the TTA.