On April 10, 2026, China National Institute of Standardization (CNIS), the secretariat holder and organizer of SAC/TC 286 (Standardization principles and methods), hosted the launching meeting for the revision proposal of the national standard Social organization standardization— Code for good practice (hereinafter referred to as “the Standard Proposal”) in Beijing.

The Standard Proposal, once approved for publication, will replace the currently effective national standard GB/T 20004.1 with the same name, which provides general principles for associations and similar organizations engaging in standardization activities. GB/T 20004.1-2016 stipulates guidelines on good practices regarding the management and operation of association standardization bodies, procedures for developing association standards, and rules for drafting such standards, and it aims at guiding different types of social organizations in their standardization activities. The 2016 version went through systematic review in May of 2025. After 10 years of implementation, this round of revision intends to solve following issues from the 2016 version of the Standard:

-   Lack of sufficient detail regarding the full lifecycle management of association standards, particularly in terms of standard development cycles and implementation.

-   Insufficient guidance on building international capabilities for social organizations and promoting internal standardization, making it difficult to meet the practical needs of social organizations of different types and sizes. 

-   Some provisions are not closely aligned with the latest policy and regulations including but not limited to the Regulations on the Administration of Association Standards (come into effect in January of 2019).

In this working meeting, the work plan of the Standard Proposal was presented, with a detailed introduction to the background, overall objectives, task assignments, timeline, and supporting mechanisms. The meeting discussed the positioning, framework structure, and core content of the standard, and reached preliminary consensus on key issues including the work plan and implementation applications.

Principles of the work on Standard Proposal progress are also established : 

-   Attach great importance to this proposal and relevant work, and fully recognize the significance of this revision work in regulating association standardization activities. 

-   Focus on prominent issues in association standardization and propose practical and feasible approaches for standardization. 

-   Accelerate the application of digital and intelligent tools such as the national standard intelligent development system to enhance drafting efficiency.

On April 28, 2026, the proposal for revising GB/T 20004.1-2016 has been approved by the National Standardization Administration of China (SAC), and the main technical changes expected in this revision include: 

-   Add overall requirements for association standardization; 

-   Enhance the organizational management section by including requirements for standardization work systems; 

-   Further revise and improve the requirements at each stage of development process for association standards; 

-   Enrich and refine content related to the promotion and application; 

-   Add content concerning the international development of association standards.

For foreign stakeholders, China has attached more importance to the association standards in the past few years, and a clear method for association standards to become national standards have been stipulated by the Interim Provisions on the Adoption of Group Standards by Recommended National Standards that was issued by SAC in August of 2023, adding more weight to this type of standard within China’s overall standard systems. In addition, the country has been trying to optimize its management system as well as improving its association standard quality. Therefore, it is advised to be aware of standard system and requirement change for association standards by the compliance team of the enterprises, and maximize the potential benefit while minimizing any risks that may come with the changes.