China issues “opinions” on advancing reform of regulatory systems for EEE

On Sept. 23, 2022, China’s State Council issued “opinions” on advancing the reform of regulatory systems for electrical and electronic equipment. The opinions set out measures such as adding lithium-ion batteries and power adapters to the mandatory certification scheme and integrating energy-saving product evaluation systems, with the Energy Efficiency Star program discontinued.

Optimization of market regulations on electrical and electronic products

Reform and development of the mandatory certification scheme for electrical and electronic products

• The list of products subject to the mandatory certification requirement are continuously updated by considering relevant technologies and the development statuses of products.
• Lithium-ion batteries and power adapters/chargers, which have a relatively high safety risk, are added to the mandatory certification scheme.
• Nine types of products that have a relatively low safety risk and are based on mature technology, including data devices and multimedia devices, are removed from the mandatory certification scheme.

Reform and development of the network access permission scheme for electrical communication equipment

• The list of electrical communication equipment subject to the network access permission requirement are continuously updated.
• Satellite internet equipment and functions virtualization equipment are added to the network access permission scheme.
• Eleven types of electrical communication equipment that are not very relevant to communication security and are based on mature technology, including fixed phones and fax machines, are removed from the network access permission scheme.

Integration of green product evaluation and certification systems

Integration of energy conservation evaluation and certification systems

• The effort to standardize energy efficiency labeling continues.
• Businesses are encouraged to continue increasing the energy efficiency of products.
• The energy efficiency “leader” product selection program and the Energy Efficiency Star product evaluation program are discontinued.
• The energy-saving product certification system and low-carbon product certification system are integrated into an energy-saving and low-carbon product certification system.
• Products certified as energy-saving and low-carbon products receive preferential treatment according to the policies of prioritized or mandatory government procurement or local incentive policies.

Integrated green product certification and labeling system

The systems for environmental label certification, energy-saving and low-carbon product certification, water-saving product certification, renewable energy product certification and green design product evaluation are integrated into a green product certification and labeling system for the integrated management of green products. This integrated system is used for the full and partial certification of green products.

Other planned policies

According to the opinions, policies for the following things will also be developed.

• Developing systems to support the high-quality development of basic electronics industries.
• Optimizing logistics in the electrical and electronics industry.
• Increasing oversight before, during and after relevant operations in whole processes and all areas.
• Implementing more effective management of whole industry chains and whole processes.

Continuously-updated list of products subject to the mandatory certification requirement

An appendix to the opinions specifies products that are removed from and added to the continuously-updated list of products subject to the mandatory certification requirement as follows:

Products removed from the mandatory certification scheme (nine items)

1. 1. One-piece or multi-piece active speakers with a total power output of 500 W or less (RMS)
   2. Audio power amplifiers
   3. Audio or video recording, playback or processing devices of different media types, including CD-ROMs, tapes and hard disk drives
   4. Electronic keyboards
   5. Cordless phones
   6. Data devices
   7. Multimedia devices
   8. Intrusion detection sensors
   9. Burglar-alarm control units

Products added to the mandatory certification scheme (two items)

1. 1. Lithium-ion batteries and battery packs and mobile batteries for electrical and electronic equipment
   2. Adapters/chargers for communication devices

The opinions issued by the State Council (in Chinese) are available at
http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/content/2022-09/23/content_5711385.htm