Artificial leather industry has been developing rapidly in China and China has become the world largest artificial leather producer. Currently there are more than 300 artificial leather producers above designated scale (with annual turnover more than CNY 20 million). However, for a long time, the good-quality products and the poor-quality ones are intermingled due to the absence of relevant standards. In order to improve the quality of artificial leather products, China has established several dozens of relevant industry standards over the past few years.

Recently, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) released five new standards, including the "Water-based Polyurethane Surface Treatment Agent for Artificial Leather" (QB/T4907-2016), the "Water-based Polyurethane Adhesive Paste for Artificial Leather" (QB/T4908-2016), the "Water-based Polyurethane Super-fine Fiber Synthetic Leather" (QB/T4909-2016), the "Technical Specifications of Water-based Polyurethane Synthetic Leather for Garment" (QB/T4911-2016) and the "Safety Requirements on Polyurethane Synthetic Leather for Sports Shoes" (QB/T4913-2016).

These standards will help promote the development and technological progress of water-based synthetic leather in China, ensure product quality and lay foundation for eliminating technical trade barriers.