Shanghai is tackling a critical gap in its industrial workforce. On September 22nd, the city launched the "First Class of the Semester" for its professional and standardization education integration pilot, alongside the opening of the 2026 Advanced Seminar for Corporate Standardization Directors. With the push from the Shanghai Municipal Market Regulation Administration, nine universities in the city have been approved as pilot institutions for this national initiative, formally establishing a collaborative framework involving universities, businesses, and government.
The core problem facing key industries such as artificial intelligence, integrated circuits, biomedicine, humanoid robotics, embodied intelligence, and high-end equipment is significant. Companies report that new graduates possess strong technical skills but lack proficiency in standards. They often require an extended period of on-the-job training to fully grasp a company's advanced technologies and practices before they can translate that knowledge into formal standards. This "strong on technology, weak on standards" deficiency directly slows down a company's ability to participate in global standard-setting and internationalize its products.
To bridge the chasm between industry demand and talent supply, the Municipal Market Regulation Administration has proactively built a service platform connecting universities and businesses. This includes establishing international standardization training bases, effectively moving the classroom to the front lines of industry. Students can now engage with real-world standard development scenarios while still in school, meaning they are ready for practical work upon graduation, dramatically shortening the cultivation cycle for standards conversion talent.
Historically, leading an international standard relied on a lengthy "old-hand guides newcomer" apprenticeship. Experts would attend meetings, learn to contribute, practice debate, and eventually lead proposal writing and consensus-building. This process often took a decade and remained a personal, non-transferable skill. To help industries expand globally and lead in standards, these implicit experiences must be made explicit.
The Municipal Market Regulation Administration is guiding universities to deconstruct international standards rules, development methods, corporate standard systems, cross-border compliance, and professional language skills into structured course modules. Nine pilot universities, including Fudan University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Tongji University, East China Normal University, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai University, Shanghai Polytechnic University, Shanghai University of Electric Power, and Shanghai Technical Institute of Electronics & Information, have systematically added core standardization curricula. These courses cover areas such as artificial intelligence, integrated circuits, biomedicine, surveying engineering, business administration, and credit management.
The initiative emphasizes a collaborative approach. For instance, Fudan University has highlighted that standardized industry-education collaboration can break down barriers between academia and industry, transforming cutting-edge industrial needs into educational standards. East China Normal University is integrating standardization into its business administration discipline, using the Shanghai Tourism Standardization Technical Committee platform to incorporate standard drafting and industry research into teaching, with its teams already leading the development of two ISO international standards. Meanwhile, Shanghai Technical Institute of Electronics & Information is embedding international standards from SEMI and relevant national semiconductor standards into its curriculum, developing teaching cases with companies to cultivate technical talent that understands both technology and standards for the integrated circuit sector.
The next step is ensuring precise matching between talent and enterprise needs. To address this "last mile" of industry-education integration, the administration is facilitating the co-construction of training bases by universities, international standardization organizations, and companies. These are being established in districts like Pudong, Putuo, and Jiading. Secretariats of international standards organizations have signed agreements with universities such as Fudan, Jiao Tong, Tongji, East China Normal, Shanghai, and Donghua, providing students with a comprehensive pathway covering theory, practical training, and international exchange.
In these settings, senior international standards experts mentor students on real projects, aligning student development with industrial demand. This dual-benefit approach transforms classroom knowledge into practical skills for students while allowing companies to identify and cultivate top young talent according to their specific needs. A student from Shanghai Polytechnic University exemplifies this success. Through an internship at an international standardization research institute, they progressed from taking meeting minutes and translating materials to independently drafting standard clauses and responding to international expert feedback. They have now become one of the youngest working secretaries of a technical committee working group globally, having gained invaluable experience in international standard-setting before even graduating.
The initial results are tangible. At a recent ISO Conformity Assessment Committee seminar, data revealed a global challenge: technical experts under 40 constitute only 10-20% of participants, with senior figures still dominating key discussions. The former ISO President emphasized that standards are a crucial regulatory tool for global governance and that talent is the foundation of this system. To transition from a "manufacturing powerhouse" to a "manufacturing strong nation," China must cultivate a composite workforce with expertise in standards, professional fields, and foreign languages.
Shanghai is building this talent pool. Shanghai Polytechnic University has established a bachelor's and master's training system in standardization engineering, with over 300 students currently enrolled. Its program features a work-study model where 100% of students participate in paid internships, collaborating with institutions like the Shanghai Robot Industry Technology Research Institute and municipal quality inspection bodies. Additionally, the Municipal Market Regulation Administration has trained several hundred corporate standardization directors, enhancing their ability to build standards systems and engage in international standards-setting activities.
Looking ahead, the administration has reaffirmed its commitment to improving this university-business-government collaboration mechanism. By deepening industry-education integration for talent cultivation, Shanghai aims to foster more international standardization experts, providing the human and intellectual capital to establish the city as a new international standardization hub. This will enable more local companies to participate in shaping international rules and standards, better serve industrial globalization, and contribute to global governance.