8 National Standards In The Field Of Building Materials In China Will Be Transformed Into Mongolian National Standards

In September 2019, at the China Mongolia Economic and Trade Standardization Forum, Han Yi, Chief Engineer of the State Administration for Market Regulation, and Bao Bilimel, Acting Director of the Mongolian Bureau of Standards and Metrology, exchanged texts on mutual recognition and conversion of standards in the field of building materials between China and Mongolia. Leaders from the National Standards Commission, Mongolian Bureau of Standards and Metrology, and China National Institute of Building Materials Science and Technology Co., Ltd. witnessed this historic moment on site.

According to the text, 8 national standards in the field of building materials in China will be converted into Mongolian national standards. These standards are all expressed in Chinese text, such as the Chinese standard GB175-2007 General Portland Cement, which was converted into the Mongolian standard MNS GB 175:2019 Common Portland Cement. This has achieved the comprehensive internationalization of Chinese standards and technology, and is of great significance for the development of China's standard industry and building materials industry.

"This is the first batch of standards officially converted from China's building materials industry to foreign countries." The relevant person in charge of the Standards Management Department of the National Standards Commission stated that with the support of the NQI National Key R&D Program of the Ministry of Science and Technology, the "Technical Research on the Applicability of Chinese Standards for Going Global (Phase II)" project, led by China Construction Materials Inspection and Certification Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "China Inspection and Certification Group"), after two years of overcoming various difficulties, the "going global" of building materials standards has finally been achieved.

It is urgent for Chinese standards to go global

Standards can significantly reduce production and transaction costs, playing irreplaceable roles such as "pass" and "bridge". Making Chinese standards available to the world is not only to make international trade more convenient and smooth, but also to help share the achievements of human civilization progress. It will play a vital role in promoting the "the Belt and Road" initiative and driving the improvement of relevant technology and management level of countries along the line.

With the rapid development of the economy, China has carried out a large number of businesses around the world in various fields such as engineering construction, production equipment, infrastructure, electronic information, and service consulting.

China and Mongolia have extensive trade and product exchanges, and historically, both sides have maintained good neighborly and friendly relations for many years. China imports a large amount of mineral, dairy, animal husbandry and other products from Mongolia, while exporting a large amount of industrial products such as building materials, equipment, and machinery to Mongolia.

As the first stop along the "the Belt and Road" in China, Mongolia has a low level of industrialization, dominated by agriculture and animal husbandry, weak infrastructure construction, a single type of import and export products, and slow development of standardization.

In recent years, Mongolia's economy has grown rapidly, and the demand for infrastructure construction has significantly increased. China has undertaken a large number of infrastructure and construction related projects in Mongolia, including airports, railways, tunnels, etc. undertaken by China Railway Construction Group; Airport highways, expressways, and residential buildings constructed by China Road and Bridge Engineering Co., Ltd; At the same time, many Chinese enterprises have invested in the construction of production factories in Mongolia, such as steel, cement, metallurgy, etc., including the Mengxin Bayngala Cement Production Line with a daily output of 2500 tons invested by China United Cement Group.

However, in engineering construction and the production of building materials and other products, Chinese enterprises deeply feel that the lack of uniformity in standards has brought new difficulties to project goals, progress, and cost control.

According to regulations, the building materials used in construction projects undertaken by China must pass the acceptance inspection according to Mongolian standards. Products produced by Chinese cement production enterprises must undergo laboratory testing in Mongolia and meet Mongolian standards before leaving the factory for sale.

However, due to many differences in testing methods and product specifications between Mongolia and China, substandard building material product specifications often occur, resulting in an increase in product failure rates and resource waste. In addition, the long testing cycle and high cost in Mongolia have also caused problems such as slow construction progress, resource waste, and increased costs for enterprises.

Meanwhile, differences in standards also create barriers for production, circulation, and trade. It is urgent for China's standards to go global in order to further advance on the world stage without being constrained by others.

Standardization cooperation between the two countries has reached a new level

China is a major producer and consumer of cement in the world, with cement production consistently ranking first in the world since 2002. In order to promote international cooperation among countries along the "the Belt and Road", Chinese cement enterprises actively expand overseas project contracting business and provide high-quality technical services for the building materials industry of countries along the "the Belt and Road". China United Cement, a subsidiary of China National Building Materials Corporation, has built Mengxinba Yingala Cement Company near Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. The factory was completed in two phases in 2015 and 2016, with a designed cement production capacity of 1 million tons and a clinker line of 2500t/d, easing the tight domestic cement supply and demand situation in Mongolia.

As a pioneer in standard work, in recent years, China National Inspection Group has officially released 9 international standards, 330 national, industry, and local standards, and 78 standard samples; More than 200 standards are under research. It can be said that it has achieved fruitful results and outstanding abilities. It has received numerous awards from standardization related institutions and has also received great attention and support from government agencies and the industry in the standardization process in the field of building materials.

As a pioneer in standard work, China National Inspection and Quarantine Group is responsible for conducting research on the applicability of key standards in the field of building materials for going global.

The process of standard transformation can be described as fraught with difficulties, involving not only the technical content, actual conditions, text expression, and content review of the transformation standards, but also multilateral content such as international relations, laws and regulations, business negotiations, and the implementation of contract agreements.

The coordinating departments include dozens of relevant technical management departments such as government agencies of both countries, standardization management agencies, building materials technology committees in the field, and multiple national laboratories.

The National Inspection and Quarantine Group has formed a team with rich experience in standard formulation and revision, and has gradually started routine operations step by step.

However, as soon as the first step was taken, the team hit a wall, and work even came to a standstill.

When contacting standardization related institutions and experts in Mongolia, relevant institutions in our country found that there are few experts in standardization in Mongolia, and standardization institutions are also nowhere to be found.

The project team is not discouraged, but has taken a different approach, abandoning the traditional standard setting approach and changing the bottom-up development process to starting from the highest management department of the standards.

Taking advantage of an opportunity for a Mongolian standardization agency to visit China, the team established contact with the Mongolian side and had preliminary communication. The positive attitude of the Mongolian side and the urgency to seek standardized development in their own country have made the team feel like another village is shining brightly.

In May 2018, a delegation of four experts from the National Standards Commission and the National Inspection Group, accompanied by the head of the Mongolian branch of China National Building Materials Group, went to Mongolia to participate in the "China Mongolia Building Materials Industry Standard Technology Exchange Conference" held by the Mongolian Standardization and Metrology Bureau in the capital Ulaanbaatar, and conducted research. After the meeting, the visiting group visited the National Building Materials Laboratory of Mongolia and the Mongolian branch of China National Building Materials Group, and formulated a data comparison plan for the key laboratories of building materials in both countries. Through research, the team has figured out the status of standards in the field of building materials in Mongolia. However, it was quickly discovered that there are significant differences between Mongolia's raw material situation, types of building materials, parameters, testing techniques, and expression methods in current standards and those in China.

Organized by the National Inspection Group, the team has collaborated with Mongolia to determine the conversion of 8 related building materials standards, including cement and raw materials.

After multiple tasks such as data comparison, scheme formulation, translation between Chinese and Mongolian English, proofreading, and expert technical review, the second "China Mongolia Building Materials Standard Technology Exchange Conference" was held in Beijing on August 8, 2018, jointly held by the National Standards Commission and the Mongolian Bureau of Standards and Metrology. The standardization management agencies and technical experts of both sides confirmed the current converted standards and jointly signed a standard conversion agreement. In July 2019, the Mongolian government organized domestic experts to review and successfully passed the conversion of 8 standards. In September 2019, the standardization management agencies of both sides conducted a standard exchange, and 8 Chinese national standards in the field of building materials were officially recognized and implemented in Mongolia.

During the entire process of standard transformation, multiple agreements were signed by the National Standards Commission, the State Inspection Group, and the standardization agency of Mongolia, including the Memorandum of Understanding on Standardization Technology Exchange in the Field of Building Materials between China and Mongolia, the Cooperation Agreement between the National Standardization Management Committee of China and the Standardization Management Agency of Mongolia, and the Framework Agreement established by the Expert Working Group of Building Materials Standards between China and Mongolia. These agreements not only promoted the internationalization of Chinese standards, but also facilitated the establishment of standardization expert groups between the two countries, opened up channels for standardization communication, and brought standardization cooperation between the two countries to a new level.

The successful transformation of Chinese standards in Mongolia is only the beginning

The successful transformation of Chinese standards in Mongolia is not the end point, it is only the beginning. Vice President Wang Ruihai of the Cement Inspection and Certification Institute of China National Inspection and Quarantine Group said that the next step will be to deepen cooperation with the standardization management agency of Mongolia, to carry out full chain cooperation in the promotion, technical services, training, and testing equipment of conversion standards in Mongolia. At the same time, this will be used as an opportunity to further promote the conversion of other standards in the field of building materials, and to cooperate with the standardization agency of Mongolia to establish a China Mongolia standardization laboratory in Mongolia, promoting the comprehensive development of Chinese standardization in Mongolia and promoting the common development of China and Mongolia.

Han Yi, chief engineer of the State Administration of Market Supervision, believes that China is a big building materials country, but not a strong building materials country. The adjustment of the national economic structure requires our building materials products to develop in high quality, and more importantly, to be in line with international standards. We should not only promote our building materials products, related production and testing equipment, and consulting services to go global, but also respond to the national "the Belt and Road" initiative to achieve a community of shared future for mankind and common development with the "the Belt and Road" countries.

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