The (future) role of China in ICT standardisation – A European perspective

•The Chinese and the European standardisation systems are described and discussed.•A set of evaluation criteria for the two systems are identified.•A SWOT analysis of the two systems is carried out.•The European view of the Chinese system is discussed.

The paper argues that the Chinese standardisation system should not be perceived as a threat to international ICT standardisation and that the rather more relaxed attitude adopted by the EU is an adequate way forward. It claims that a co-operation based approach to the increasingly powerful relative newcomer is much more appropriate than one based on competition. These arguments are based on a discussion of the European and Chinese standardisation systems and on a subsequent SWOT analysis.