Beijing – On 30 June, 2025, Mr. Jan Ellsberger, Director-General of European Telecommunication Standards Institute (ETSI), Mr. Ultan Mulligan, Chief Service Officer of ETSI, Dr. Issam Toufik, Chief technology Officer, and Mr. Igor Minaev, Head of External Relations visited the National Standardization Administration of China (SAC) for a formal meeting. The meeting aims to exchange information on ICT standardization developments and discuss potential collaboration opportunities. Dr. Betty Xu, Director of SESEC, also attended the meeting to provide support.

The formal meeting was hosted by the Department of Standards Innovation Management in SAC, who is responsible for management of sector standards, local standards, association standards and enterprise standards. It also represents China in the development of international standards, foster ties with international and regional standardization bodies such as ETSI.

The following SAC officers participated in the meeting: Mr. Xiao Han, Director-General of SAC’s Standards Innovation Management Department; Mr. Guo Chenguang, Deputy Director-General of Standards Innovation Management Department; Mr. Liu Dashan, Director of the IT & Automation Division, under Standards Technology Management Department; and Ms CHEN Ying from the International Cooperation Division.

The meeting focused on three key areas: mutual introductions, recent standardization progress, and ideas for future collaboration. Mr. Xiao Han opened the session with a warm welcome and an overview of SAC’s institutional framework and its key achievements under the National Standardization Development Outline issued in 2021. He highlighted China’s ongoing efforts to align standardization with innovation, strengthen industrial standards, promote green development, improve consumer-related standards, and enhance China’s presence in international standardization.

Mr. Liu Dashan presented updates on China’s progress in ICT standardization. As of 2025:

  • The National AI Subcommittee (SAC/TC28/SC42)has issued 23 national standards and is developing another 24.
  • The Cybersecurity Technical Committee (SAC/TC260)has released 405 national standards.
  • The Data Technical Committee (SAC/TC609)has 27 national standards in development.
  • The Quantum Computing and Metrology Technical Committee (SAC/TC578)has published 9 national standards and 8 English translations, with 2 more on quantum secure communication in progress.

On the ETSI side, Mr. Ellsberger provided a comprehensive introduction to ETSI’s mission, historical background, and future strategic priorities. He emphasized ETSI’s growing interest in expanding beyond traditional ICT to encompass broader digital domains such as Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity. Mr. Mulligan and Mr. Minaev elaborate on how ETSI leverages standards to facilitate alignment of EU regulations and policies, contributing to a seamless digital transformation across Europe.

During the meeting, SAC expressed strong interest in collaborating with ETSI at an expert level, such as joint research, collaborative proposals for international standards and regular technical meetings between experts from both organizations. Mr. Ellsberger agreed with SAC’s proposal and suggested that software development could be a meaningful starting point for this collaboration.

The meeting concluded with Mr. Guo Chenguang’s closing remarks, who expressed genuine appreciation to ETSI’s visit and valuable information shared. He also convened SAC’s interest in further dialogue on European and Chinese standardization policies in the future.

Both sides agreed to arrange more dialogues in the future, with the goal of establishing a practical collaboration mechanism between ETSI and SAC.