The plenary meeting of SAC/TC 554/SC 1, Geographical Indication, was held online and on-site on December 15 in Beijing. Members of the subcommittee concluded their works in 2021 and schemed future plans for 2022. Li Zhiping, Vice-President of CNIS and Vice-Chair of the subcommittee, hosted one section of the meeting.

Geographical indication (GI) marks the origin of certain products, which usually are of specific reputation and quality. Protected by laws, GI is a form of intellectual property and a business card representing place of origin.

Chen Hongjun, Deputy Director-General of Standards Technical Management Department of the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), strengthened that the subcommittee must follow the lead of China's outline for standardization development.

According to Chen, further works should focus on promoting high-quality development, serving relevant developing policies and fostering standards for significant products, all of which will support the protection and development of GIs.

Zhang Zhicheng, Director-General of Intellectual Property Protection Department of the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), praised the subcommittee's work in 2021. He highlighted the necessity of the GI standardization work to raise China's international competitiveness in intellectual property.

The next step of the subcommittee is to promote international cooperation in GI and support the high-quality development of GIs.