Sixteen government departments jointly issued a notice regarding the action plan (the notice) for the implementation of the National Standardization Development Outline on July 12, which was initiated by the State Council last October.
The notice clarifies 33 specific tasks involving various policy plans such as rural revitalization, social governance, and public services, many of which are related to NGOs and other social organizations.
Five departments, including the General Office of the State Council, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the State Administration of Taxation, and the State Administration for Market Regulation, are required to take on a leadership role in setting the standards for administrative management and social governance, and to coordinate relevant departments to carry out joint actions.
The above-mentioned departments, together with the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, are required to jointly carry out urban standardization pilot projects in regional development, emergency response, and grass-roots community governance.
The notice demands that relevant departments focus on the standardization of elderly care and domestic services, and emphasizes that the mandatory national standards for service safety in elderly care institutions need to be strictly implemented and monitored. The establishment of a unified national service quality rating system for elderly care institutions should be accelerated.
The development of social groups is also highlighted in the notice. The Ministry of Civil Affairs needs to take the lead and coordinate with relevant departments to designate standards and norms for social organizations, such as industrial associations, volunteer groups and NGOs.
The notice encourages international organizations related to professional standard formulation to settle in China, and requires relevant departments to strengthen exchanges between China and foreign countries, so as to promote the synchronization of Chinese standards with international standards.
