Chinese telecommunication operators and research institutes jointly launched an expertise team Thursday, with a view to creating better order in the telecommunications industry, and guarantee smooth operation of networks employing different technical standards.

Sources with the Ministry of Information Industry (MII) said Gong Shuangjin, an expert with the MII Telecommunication Research Institute, will be the team leader.

The team is to carry out research on technical standards of exchange and communication between different networks, draft project plans and protocols on standards, and organize discussions and publicity.

Lu Yang, an MII official in charge of telecommunications, said Internet standardization was an important means to supervise the information industry. Currently, China is taking concrete measures to solve problems arising from different technical standards, such as regulating account settlement between different networks and monitoring the quality of exchange.

Lu said researching and launching telecommunication standardization should be far-sighted and the interests of customers and operators should also be taken into account.

(Xinhua News Agency November 20, 2003)