(XINHUA)

Zhang Xiaogang, Chairman of the World Steel Association and a member of the China Standardization Expert Committee, was elected president of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in St. Petersburg, Russia, on September 21. He is the first Chinese to assume the post.

Founded in 1947, the ISO is the largest and most authoritative international standard-setting body. By the end of 2012, the ISO had developed and published about 20,000 standards, which have played an important role in world economy and trade.