Abstract: With the “Belt and Road” Initiative, Chinese firms have recognized the significance of strengthening the cooperation in standardization programs with firms along the “Belt and Road” and are devoted to promoting Chinese Firms’ technical standards internationalization for the “Belt and Road” markets, a process that Chinese firms cooperate with firms along the “Belt and Road” on standard-setting and application by joining the technical standards alliance. Compared with firms along the “Belt and Road”, Chinese firms have the advantages of mastering core technologies in key fields, holding Standards and Essential Patents, and manufacturing high-end products. Therefore, how to give full play to the first-mover advantages to realize technical standard internationalization in the“Belt and Road” becomes an outstanding issue that needs to be solved urgently.
Based on a game model, this paper attempts to incorporate the global governance vision featuring extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefit, into Chinese firms’ technical standard internationalization, and to investigate Chinese firms’ decisions when confronted with two modes of standardization cooperation, i.e., standard adoption and standard collaboration.Specifically, the standard adoption mode refers to the scenario where the projects collaborating with firms along the “Belt and Road”are constructed by adopting the existing Chinese technical standards directly. Take the “Belt and Road” infrastructure construction projects for example, the construction and operations of theAddis Ababa-Djibouti Railway, Yawan high-speed railway, and Mongolian railway all adopt Chinese Railway technical standards currently in effect. The standard collaboration mode refers to the scenario where the technical standards are co-developed and spread by the technical standard alliance, composed of Chinese firms and firms along the “Belt and Road”. Typical examples include the UHV transmission project in Brazil’s beautiful mountain by State Grid Corporation of China, and the energy efficiency standards formation in Pakistan by Haier through the localization of R&D, manufacturing and sales, and so on.
Considering that Chinese firms are not only the initiator of the “Belt and Road” but also the leader in technical standard setting, this paper applies the Stackelberg game model to capture the interaction between Chinese firms and firms along the “Belt and Road”, the members in technical standards alliance, in the process of standard setting. This research examines the impacts of bilateral negotiation costs, technical standard spillover effects, market acceptance, and market turbulence on the decision-making of standardization alliances. The optimal decisions in technical standard-setting and the associated profit are derived in each mode and the thresholds under which one mode is dominated by the other are also discussed.
Through theoretical analysis, this paper sheds light on how Chinese firms promote standard internationalization in terms of the decision-making mechanism and standardization modes selection for the “Belt and Road” markets. In terms of decision-making, Chinese firms should amplify the spillover effects of technical standards, closely keep up with the market trend, contribute to the negotiation cost reduction, and enhance coordination with firms along the “Belt and Road”, to drive the high-quality development of Chinese technical standards in the global market. At the same time, Chinese firms should also be mindful of the negative impact of market volatility. In terms of mode selections, Chinese firms should make smart choices based on the market condition and project reality. For the supportive livelihood project, Chinese firms are suggested to apply standard adoption mode in construction, while for the for-profit projects, standard collaboration is recommended. In particular to the market with limited spillover effect and acceptability, the implementation of standard collaboration will accelerate the internationalization of Chinese technical standards by alleviating the standard transformation barriers.
This research upgrades the understanding of the process of technical standards internationalization through the “Belt and Road” initiative and builds the theoretical framework for technical standards formation. Moreover, it provides practical guidance for Chinese firms to establish a standard formation strategy and integrate into the trend of standard internationalization.

Key words: “Belt and Road” initiative, standard adoption, standard collaboration, principle of “Consultation, Contribution and Shared Benefits”

摘要： 伴随着共建“一带一路”走深走实,中国企业以“一带一路”标准化合作项目为依托,通过与当地企业达成技术标准联盟,加快推进面向“一带一路”中国企业技术标准国际化进程。在此背景下,本文构建博弈模型研究揭示面向“一带一路”中国企业技术标准国际化遵循“共商共建共享”的决策过程,分析中国企业技术标准在标准采纳与标准共研两种模式下的决策选择。研究讨论了联盟各方共商成本、技术标准溢出效应、市场接受程度以及市场波动对技术标准联盟决策的影响,比较分析了标准采纳和标准共研两种模式下的最优决策、均衡利润和适用情境。并在此基础上,提出了面向“一带一路”中国企业技术标准国际化在决策方式与模式选择方面的管理启示。

关键词: “一带一路”, 标准采纳, 标准共研, 共商共建共享