A meeting was held in Qingdao, East China’s Shandong province on Nov 1, 2019 to discuss the English version of a survey specification for marine sediments in seabed areas. The specification is expected to become an international standard. [Photo by Wang Shaoqing/For chinadaily.com.cn]

Chinese scientists are making efforts to promote a marine survey’s national standard to the international level, aiming to give technological support to marine research across the world.
The standard is related to a survey specification for marine sediments in seabed areas, which is “concerning climate change, deep-sea biological resources, environmental exploration and other hot research fields,” said Lei Yanli, one of the standard’s writers.

Those topics have drawn wide attention in the world, added Lei, who is also a research fellow with the Institute of Oceanology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The Qingdao-based institute in East China’s Shandong province took the lead in the compilation of the standard’s English version, which was joined by eight other marine-related institutions.

The English version went through the review by an expert panel on Nov 1 in Qingdao.
Experts considered the standard’s English version as the preliminary step to an international standard proposal.
The national standard of “specifications for marine sediment interstitial biota survey” was released on Oct 14, 2017 and was the first national standard on a marine investigation since the 1980s.
Tongji University marine geologist Jian Zhimin contributed to the international standard’s proposal to the International Standardization Organization, known as ISO.
According to Jian, the application has passed the first two steps, “new work item proposal” and “working draft”.
“The work will face more challenges when it steps into the ‘committee draft’, ‘draft international standard’,” added Jian.
Li Tiegang, deputy director of the Institute of Oceanology, said the international standard setting will further enhance communication and cooperation among marine scientists from different countries and regions.
“We also hope Chinese standards become better known to scientists worldwide,” Li added.