Chongqing’s sole representative selected! The SCO Economic and Trade Platform Think Tank helps Chongqing write a new chapter in institutionalized openness.

Recently, the first National Product Digital Passport (DPP) Standardization Working Group, established by the National Standardization Administration Committee, was officially launched. Forty-three leading industry experts are spearheading the development of national standards in this field. Bai Jinlong, Director of the Standardization Committee at the Chongqing Institute for Digital and Intelligent Industry Economic Development—part of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s Multifunctional Economic and Trade Platform and a think-tank expert on the platform—was successfully selected and has become... The only one in Chongqing This achievement demonstrates that Chongqing’s research level in the field of digital product passports has already reached the forefront of the country, and it also provides a new opportunity for the SCO economic and trade platform to deepen its rule-based and institutionalized opening-up.

The digital product passport is a key tool for addressing information asymmetry in cross-border trade and aligning with green trade regulations; it also serves as an important lever for connecting with international economic and trade rules. Internationally, the European Union has explicitly committed to completing the integration of digital passport systems for battery products by February 2027, while the United Nations has launched the development of a global standards framework. Domestically, multiple Chinese government departments jointly advanced related initiatives by December 2025, and several regions have already begun pilot programs in specific industries. This working group directly aligns with the ISO 59000 series of international standards; the standards it develops will help Chinese enterprises integrate into global supply chains and participate in the formulation of international rules.

(Photo provided by the Chongqing Institute for Digital Intelligence Industry and Economic Development, a multi-functional economic and trade platform of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states)

As a think tank under the SCO Economic and Trade Platform, the Chongqing Institute for Digital Intelligence Industry and Economic Development (hereinafter referred to as the Digital Intelligence Institute) has been deeply engaged in the field of cooperation among SCO member states. Adopting an “industry-academia-research-application” model, it provides end-to-end services for enterprises’ cross-border collaborations. The technological achievements developed by the institute have already been implemented in multiple industrial sectors in Chongqing and have also facilitated project collaborations between local enterprises and those from SCO member states. With Bai Jinlong’s recent inclusion, the SCO Economic and Trade Platform will leverage his practical experience in cross-border trade to transform these insights into national standard clauses, effectively bridging local practices, national standards, and international rules, and injecting new momentum into the exploration of jointly developing “SCO Standards.”

This also represents an important exploration by the SCO economic and trade platform to proactively align with international economic and trade rules, providing standardized support for the platform to help Chinese industrial chains go global and build a two-way open hub. Externally, leveraging the traceability and certification functions of digital product passports can assist SCO member countries and domestic enterprises in overcoming international green trade barriers, promoting the compliant overseas expansion of China’s advantageous industries, and enhancing the recognition of China’s digital passport standards within the region as well as its influence on regional trade rules. Internally, unified standards will streamline the compliance procedures for products from SCO member countries entering China, reduce cross-border trade costs, and attract more foreign-invested enterprises to establish businesses in China.

The Chongqing Institute for Digital Intelligence Industry and Economic Development stated that it will take this selection as an opportunity to leverage its dual advantages and pursue a dual-track approach: On the one hand, it will promote the alignment of Chongqing’s specialized industries with the national digital passport standards, helping local enterprises integrate into the SCO economic and trade circle and global markets, and empowering the construction of Chongqing’s National Pilot Zone for Digital Economy Innovation and Development. On the other hand, it will explore the trade needs of SCO member countries, advance regional mutual recognition and interoperability of digital passport standards, and support the SCO economic and trade platform in building an international logistics and trade cooperation network.

Industry insiders believe that the inclusion of experts from the SCO economic and trade platform’s think tank in the core circle of national standardization efforts is a concrete manifestation of the SCO economic and trade platform’s pragmatic support for Chongqing’s strategy of high-level opening-up. In the future, as relevant national standards are implemented, the trade potential among SCO member states will be further unlocked, and the “SCO standards” will be more deeply aligned with China’s national standards and international rules. This will not only provide standardized support for Chinese industrial chains going global but also accelerate Chongqing’s development into a highland for inland opening-up, thereby contributing to the country’s broader strategy of high-level opening-up.