質量強國(zhìliàng qiángguó): Great power of quality

The State Council, China's Cabinet, recently issued a guideline on quality improvement. Aimed at improving the quality of Chinese products and services, as well as making the supply system more efficient, the guideline says China can gain the great power of quality by 2020 by remarkably enhancing the overall quality of its products and services.

The document emphasizes the value orientation of "quality comes first", and urges manufacturers and service providers to stick to the fundamental purpose of meeting consumers' demands and enhancing China's comprehensive strength. It also calls for effective management of problems involving quality, increase in the supply of "intelligent" and consumer-friendly mid-to-high-end products, and the maintenance of high quality and value-added services.

The guideline requires remarkable improvement in the quality of industrial development, including enterprises' quality management, upgrading of the value chain of traditional competitive industries, and advancing the service industry.

In addition, it calls for total improvement in the quality of regional development, and national infrastructure construction in terms of national standard, inspection, testing, certification and approval to further sharpen China's edge in international competitions.