October 14th is World Standards Day every year, and as an important event in the 49th World Standards Day series, the 9th ISO/TC256 Annual Conference is held in Guangzhou on October 10th.

Martin, President of ISO/TC256 Dr. Reisinger introduced during his opening speech that ISO/TC256 was established in 2010 and has currently released 98 ISO standards, with 13 currently under development. There are currently 12 active member states, 18 observation member states, and 10 liaison member states. Chairman Martin fully affirmed the work done by the Chinese side. He stated that China has actively participated in the work of the Standards Committee since the establishment of ISO/TC256, and has taken on the role of convener of the WG7 working group. He has presided over the drafting of a series of international standards for pigments, dyes, physical pigments, and nanomaterials, and has achieved remarkable results in his work.

The leaders of the relevant departments of the National Standardization Administration of China, the organizer, pointed out in their speech that China is an important member of the international standardization family and a permanent member of the ISO International Organization for Standardization. China has been actively participating in the work of the International Organization for Standardization and promoting international standardization cooperation and exchange. In 2017, China revised its Standardization Law. Article 8 of the new version of the Standardization Law clearly states that China actively participates in international standardization activities, strengthens cooperation and exchanges in standardization with foreign countries, participates in the formulation of international standards, and actively adopts international standards. As of now, China is an active member country of nearly 700 technical institutions such as TC and SC, with over 3000 registered experts. China's standardization work benefits from international standardization and is also committed to making more contributions to the international standardization cause.

This annual conference is the third time that the ISO/TC256 conference has been held in China since 2013 and 2016. The main organizer of the conference, Guangzhou Jibisheng Technology Industry Co., Ltd., has participated in the development of the international standard ISO 18473-1:2015 "Nanocalcium Carbonate for Sealants" and has led the development of the international standard ISO 18473-3:2018 "Gas phase Silicon Dioxide for Silicone Rubber". This conference will also discuss the company's third international PWI standard project "Determination of Silicon Hydroxyl Density of Gas phase Silicon Dioxide". Dr. Wang Yuelin, the person in charge of ISO 18473-3 standard, provided a detailed interpretation of the international standard and shared his experience and insights in developing international standards. In the report, Dr. Wang Yuelin encouraged more domestic enterprises and research institutions to actively participate in international standardization activities, to voice more Chinese voices and contribute Chinese solutions to international standardization work, and to demonstrate Chinese wisdom.

The Secretary General of the National Standardization Technical Committee for Coatings and Pigments pointed out in his report on "New Requirements for the Pigment Industry for the Green Development of Chinese Coatings Products" that the terms and definitions, product classification, evaluation requirements, and evaluation methods for green coating product evaluation in GB/T 35602-2017 "Green Product Evaluation Coatings" are of great significance in changing the current phenomenon of industry dispersion and insufficient high-end products, promoting more production enterprises to improve production technology, enhance product environmental friendliness, and accelerate industry transformation and upgrading. It is also pointed out that the evaluation standards for domestic green coating products will contribute to the development of international green product standardization.

The 9th Annual Conference of ISO/TC256 is hosted by the Technical Committee of ISO/TC256 "Pigments, Dyes and Physical Pigments" and the National Standardization Administration of China. It is hosted by Guangzhou Jibisheng Technology Industry Co., Ltd., CNOOC Changzhou Coatings and Chemical Research Institute Co., Ltd., and Guangzhou Huifu Research Institute Co., Ltd. More than 100 leaders from national and local standard management departments, as well as domestic and foreign experts, attended the meeting.

Hubei Journalist Station Cai Youheng Correspondent Wu Chunlei Duan Xianjian