By the end of 2025, China had a total of 1,214 certification bodies, over 53,000 inspection and testing institutions, and 22,770 accredited organizations; the output value of the certification, accreditation, inspection, and testing services industry exceeded 500 billion yuan, with the market scale steadily expanding.
China has cumulatively joined 15 international organizations for conformity assessment and signed 170 multilateral and bilateral cooperation and mutual recognition agreements externally. It has established mechanisms for deep participation with international organizations such as IEC, ISO, and IAF, achieving substantive results in the "Belt and Road" conformity assessment cooperation mechanism.
During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, market regulatory authorities resolutely implemented the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, closely followed the overall work guideline of the Party Leadership Group of the State Administration for Market Regulation to "emphasize politics, strengthen regulation, promote development, and ensure safety," adhered to political guidance, strengthened mission commitment, actively performed duties, and achieved significant results in certification, accreditation, inspection, and testing work.
In 2025, market regulatory authorities focused on advancing the credibility and professionalization of the industry, actively serving high-quality development and high-level opening up, with all tasks achieving notable success.
Actively empowering high-quality development. In serving industrial optimization and upgrading, 50 industries from 24 provinces were included in the pilot program for quality certification services to strengthen enterprises, industrial chains, and counties. The first phase of the Quality Strengthening Industrial Chain project for the industrial application and quality improvement of domestically produced automotive chips was completed, and actions to promote industrial optimization and upgrading through inspection and testing were implemented. In assisting enterprises with quality improvement, the action to enhance quality certification for small and micro enterprises was deepened, advancing the second batch of 26 regional industrial upgrade pilots, assisting 79,000 enterprises. Among over 10,000 enterprises participating in a questionnaire survey, the profit margin increased by 6.8% year-on-year, while total costs decreased by 12.2% year-on-year. The planning and construction of 874 national quality inspection centers was undertaken, over 1,200 public service platforms for inspection and testing were established, helping enterprises resolve more than 20,000 product quality issues. In supporting green transformation development, 26 certification bodies, 25 provinces, 57 regions, and 40 product types were selected to carry out pilot programs for product carbon footprint labeling and certification. New systems such as green certification for marine fuels and establishing water-saving management systems were explored, and a directory of inspection agencies for excessive product packaging was released, strongly supporting green transformation development.
Focusing on standardizing industry development order. First, continuously strengthening the governance of key issues. Efforts were made to address the insufficient effectiveness of compulsory product certification (CCC certification), carrying out the "one assessment, two transitions" work for CCC certification, adjusting the certification method for 16 types of products from self-declaration to third-party certification. Special governance for the filing management of certification rules was conducted, effectively cleaning up low-quality certification rules. A comprehensive management plan for the "small, scattered, weak" inspection and testing industry was formulated, proposing 20 "package" measures. The total number of national inspection and testing institutions was reduced to 53,000, achieving negative growth for the first time in 20 years. Second, strictly implementing daily management measures. The responsibility for certification quality was reinforced, requiring certification bodies to establish management systems for a Chief Certification Quality Officer and quality responsible persons for certification projects. New versions of quality management system certification and organic product certification rules were released, strengthening the management of the entire certification process. A full-chain supervision system for inspection and testing institutions covering pre-event, in-process, and post-event stages was constructed, with strict access requirements for institutions in key fields and detailed specific applicable scenarios for license revocation/withdrawal penalties in key areas, smoothing the exit mechanism. Third, strictly investigating and punishing illegal and non-compliant activities. Supervision of practicing institutions through "random inspection and public disclosure" was organized, along with on-site verification of certification body qualification compliance. The qualifications of 26 certification bodies found to have serious issues were revoked or cancelled. A total of 4,221 illegal and non-compliant cases in inspection and testing were investigated and dealt with, with 403 institutions having their qualifications revoked or cancelled. Special campaigns were launched to address irregularities in indoor air formaldehyde treatment testing and the sales chaos in the rosewood market, forming a strong deterrent against illegal activities.
Effectively promoting high-level opening up. Multilateral and bilateral cooperation outcomes were expanded, focusing on priority directions for diplomacy and foreign trade, with cooperation carried out with New Zealand, Cambodia, Uzbekistan, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and others. Active participation in the formulation of conformity assessment rules was undertaken; the Conformity Assessment Subcommittee of the IEC National Committee of China was established, management systems were issued, and efforts were made to cultivate international experts and young professionals. Serving the integrated development of domestic and foreign trade, mutual recognition and alignment with international certification systems were strengthened. The "Convenience Scheme for Compulsory Product Certification for Foreign Trade Enterprises' Products Switching from Export to Domestic Sales" was issued, and policies for foreign trade enterprises shifting from export to domestic sales were promoted and implemented, benefiting products with a value exceeding 12.5 billion yuan.
Continuously improving the industry governance system. The formulation and revision of relevant laws and regulations were promoted, with the draft amendment to the "Regulations on Certification and Accreditation" submitted to the State Council, and legislative research on the "Inspection and Testing Regulations" conducted. Reforms in the quality certification field were deepened; 17 departments, including the State Administration for Market Regulation, jointly issued the "Opinions on Further Improving the Quality Certification System," injecting strong momentum for comprehensively deepening reforms in the quality certification field. Reforms for the qualification accreditation of inspection and testing institutions were accelerated; documents such as the "List of Matters for Qualification Accreditation of Inspection and Testing Institutions" and the "Capability Item Database for Qualification Accreditation of Inspection and Testing Institutions" (One List, One Database) were researched and formulated, comprehensively reviewing nearly 50,000 inspection and testing standards across 11 professional fields and over 500,000 capability parameters.
The work in 2025 laid a solid foundation for the successful conclusion of the "14th Five-Year Plan" period. During the "14th Five-Year Plan," by focusing on building a unified, jointly implemented, authoritative, credible, universally applicable, and mutually recognized certification, accreditation, inspection, and testing system, significant contributions were made to promoting high-quality economic and social development.
Continuous advancement of deepening reforms effectively unleashed development vitality. Comprehensive reforms in areas such as the approval of certification bodies, qualification accreditation of inspection and testing institutions, management of certification personnel, and compulsory product certification were deepened, effectively promoting the efficient allocation of resource factors, continuously optimizing the market environment, and steadily enhancing the industry's development vitality.
International influence gradually expanded, further broadening the opening-up landscape. China achieved new breakthroughs in participating in the formulation of international standards and rules for conformity assessment. The international mutual recognition of certification, accreditation, inspection, and testing significantly improved. The international business of conformity assessment bodies continuously expanded, forming a group of institutional brands and system brands with a certain degree of international influence.
Professional capabilities significantly enhanced, with service effectiveness increasingly evident. China's overall capabilities in innovation, management, service, and comprehensive strength in certification, accreditation, inspection, and testing work improved. The capabilities and quality of practicing institutions and personnel teams were continuously optimized. The level of digital application in the field of conformity assessment markedly increased. The proportion of investment and output in innovation and R&D gradually rose, and the application of key core technology research achievements yielded good benefits.
Development quality steadily improved, and the industry structure tended to optimize. The certification, accreditation, inspection, and testing industry showed obvious characteristics of agglomeration. The comprehensive strength of large institutions significantly increased, and the leading role of industry leaders was effectively brought into play. During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, the number of inspection and testing institutions above a designated size increased to 7,972, accounting for 15.03% of the entire industry, an increase of 1.92 percentage points.
Industry governance was significantly strengthened, and market order was continuously standardized. The governance system of "legal norms, administrative supervision, accreditation constraints, industry self-discipline, and social supervision" became more perfected. A new supervision mechanism was comprehensively established, based on "random inspection and public disclosure" as the fundamental means, supplemented by key supervision, and underpinned by credit supervision. A systematic supervision landscape was formed, characterized by multi-department joint supervision, integration of various supervision methods, and continuous innovation in supervision mechanisms and methods. The effectiveness of rectification in the field of certification, accreditation, inspection, and testing continued to deepen.
The Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee scientifically analyzed the situation facing China's development and made the important judgment that the "15th Five-Year Plan" period is a crucial time for solidifying the foundation and exerting comprehensive effort to basically achieve socialist modernization. Planning and advancing the work of certification, accreditation, inspection, and testing during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period requires a profound understanding of fundamental, strategic, and overarching issues related to industry development. The focus should be on enhancing industry credibility, the supporting capacity for high-quality development, international market influence, brand competitiveness, and industry governance capabilities, consolidating the foundation, making comprehensive efforts, and accelerating the construction of a modern conformity assessment system with Chinese characteristics.