With China set to become the world's biggest consumer electronics market in three years, the country is to enhance its co-operation with foreign companies in the area of standardization, a senior Chinese official said on Friday at the 2005 SinoCES in East China's Shandong Province.

　　Speaking at a summit meeting during the China International Consumer Electronics Show known as SinoCES, Lou Qinjian, vice-minister for the information industry, said Chinese organizations and companies should work with multinationals and exchange with international organizations to improve standardization.

　　The 2005 SinoCES is the first time the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), organizer of the world's No 1 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, has organized the Chinese exhibition.

　　China has stepped up its efforts in standardization in recent years but several programmes developing new standards were criticized by US, European and Japanese organizations for being exclusive to foreign companies. A wireless network security standard known as WAPI, which was developed by a group of companies and research organizations and was supposed to take effect on June 1, 2004, has been delayed indefinitely, awaiting the outcome of negotiations between China and the United States.

　　In the consumer electronics industry, China released two major standards on June 29, which define how to connect electronic devices at home in a seamless network, either wired or wireless. In February, the Ministry of Information Industry also approved an industrial standard for laser discs known as Enhanced Versatile Disc (EVD), in competition with other high-density disc standardization proposals like blue-ray disc and high-definition DVD.

　　Those efforts, mainly initiated and led by Chinese companies, have been the target of foreign complaints.

　　Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of CEA, which represents more than 2,000 member companies, also said yesterday that besides the current value and intellectual property right protection, China's stance on standardization is another area that US electronics companies are concerned about.

　　"We hope China can modify the policies, so that everyone can participate," said Shapiro.

　　According to Shapiro, sales in China's consumer electronics industry reached US$52 billion in 2004, ranking fourth in the world. Sales are expected to double in three years to make China the world's largest consumer electronics market.

　　With the rapid growth of the country's position in the world's consumer electronics industry and an increase of technological capability, Chinese companies have been trying to have their voices heard in international standardizations organizations.

　　China's electronics giant Haier, which led a working group on one of the two standards approved on June 29, will also hold talks with the chairman of the International Electrotechnical Commission on Saturday on co-operation on standards.