The hidden standards battle: inside China’s push to rewire global manufacturing

The 19th-century German industrialist Werner von Siemens once famously remarked that “he who owns the standards, owns the market”.

The maxim still holds true over a century later. Around the world, companies and governments are quietly investing huge resources to try and define the technical standards for new products – from electric cars to robots.

The stakes of this largely hidden battle can be enormous: the winners essentially get to write the rules for a global industry, forcing their competitors to adapt to specifications that were developed to suit the winners’ own products.

For decades, the United States and Germany have dominated the standard-setting process, giving companies like Intel and Siemens a significant advantage. But that is now starting to change.