25/08/2020

On 4 August 2020, the Standardisation Administration of China (SAC), the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), jointly issued the Guidelines for the Establishment of the New Generation of Artificial Intelligence Standards System.

The document outlines a two-stage strategy to be achieved by the national artificial intelligence (AI) standards system, namely:

  • By 2021:
    • Clarify the top-level design nature of AI standardisation;
    • Research general rules for the establishment of the AI standards system and for the development of standards;
    • Clarify the relationship between standards;
    • Complete the pre-research of more than 20 key standards, especially on critical general and AI technologies, as well as AI ethics.
  • By 2023:
    • Complete the preliminary establishment of the AI standards system;
    • Focus on the development of urgently needed standards such as data, algorithms, systems and service, and promote their application in various industries such as manufacturing, transports, finance, public security, housing, elderly care, environmental protection, education, healthcare, and justice;
    • Establish a test and verification platform for AI standards, thus increasing the provision of public services.

Framework of China AI standards

According to the Guidelines, the national AI standards system framework will consist of eight parts: (i) basics; (ii) supporting technologies and products; (iii) hardware and software platforms; (iv) critical and generic technologies; (v) critical AI technologies; (vi) products and services; (vii) industrial application; and (viii) security and ethics. Previously in 2018, the China Electronics Standardisation Institute (CESI) had released the White Paper on Artificial Intelligence Standardisation (2018), which proposed a framework of China’s AI standards system that covered the status of AI technology, industry and standardisation both in China and abroad (Figure 1).

However, although the White Paper was developed under the overall guidance of SAC, it was still seen as a report from a professional standardisation institute, rather than from a state agency, and as such it could only be used as a general reference for the development of AI standards. The newly-released Guidelines for the Construction of a New Generation of Artificial Intelligence Standards System, developed by five key central regulators, overcome this issue: the new framework proposed is a significant improvement and refinement of the version previously proposed by CESI (Figure 2).

China AI standards

The Guidelines provide definitions for all kinds of AI standards, and illustrate the key points for their development according to the two-stage strategy for the establishment of the AI standards system. In the annex, the Guidelines provide a detailed list of the development directions and priorities of 63 kinds of AI standards, focusing on technology, industry application and security. However, no lists of standards already issued, currently under research or under planning, is provided in the Guidelines.

The Chinese version of the Guidelines for the Construction of a New Generation of Artificial Intelligence Standards System can be accessed, for free, at this link: http://www.miit.gov.cn/n1146290/n1146402/c8048502/part/8048508.pdf

By Haley WU on 25 August