The Science and Technology Department of the Ministry of Information Industry officially issued the Notice on the Establishment of the Audio Video Coding Standards Workgroup of China (XKH [2002] No. 101), and determined that the task of the Workgroup was as follows: according to the needs of China's information industry, work with domestic enterprises and scientific research institutions to formulate (revise) common technical standards such as compression, decompression, processing and presentation of digital audio and video, provide efficient and economical encoding and decoding technology for digital audio and video equipment and systems, and serve major information industry applications such as high-resolution digital broadcasting, high-density laser digital storage media, wireless broadband media communications, and Internet broadband streaming media.” Professor Gao Wen from the Institute of Computing Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences served as the Leader of the Workgroup, Zhao Xinhua, Director of the Institute of Electronic Standardization of the Ministry of Information Industry served as a liaison of the Workgroup, and the Secretariat of the Workgroup was attached to the Institute of Computing Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. 33 institutions including Beijing Fuguo Digital Technology Co., Ltd. became the first members.

The third working meeting of AVS was held in Beijing Tsinghua Unisplendour International Conference Center. Professor Yang Shiqiang from Tsinghua University was responsible for the organization of the conference as the coordinator. The Video Group formed four output files: Video Coding Technology CFP, General Conditions for Video Coding Test, Video Coding Working Draft, and Reference Software Platform. The System Group put forward a draft plan, the Demand Group put forward the Demand Analysis of Source Coding for Mass Storage Carriers, and the Audio Group formed a work status report. According to the notice from the Ministry of Information Industry, the name of the work group was officially determined as "数字音视频编解码技术标准工作组", and the English name was Audio Video Coding Standards Workgroup of China (AVS Workgroup).

The 62nd MPEG International Conference and the 28th JPEG Conference hosted by China were held in Pudong District, Shanghai from Oct. 21st to 25th this year. More than 300 experts from over 20 countries and more than 50 domestic representatives discussed the latest developments in media technologies and standards. The JPEG conference was the first time held in China after nearly 20 years from the establishment of the expert group. The conference was organized by the China delegation of MPEG, with Shanghai Jiaotong University and Philips East Asia Lab as the hosts. During the MPEG meeting, the second working conference of the Audio Video Coding Standards Workgroup of China was held at the same time. The Video Group received 13 proposals, and the Audio Group received 5 proposals, which respectively formed a work status report and a draft "call for proposals" proposed by the Security Group. Researcher Zeng Yongqin from Philips East Asia Lab was responsible for the organization of the conference as the local coordinator.

The first meeting of the Audio Video Coding Standards Workgroup of China was held in Beijing, and was hosted by the Institute of Computing Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Secretary-General Huang Tiejun served as the coordinator of the meeting. The meeting decided to merge this Workgroup with MPEG-China, and remain the names of the two organizations unchanged for domestic and international use respectively. In this meeting, the Audio Group received five proposals, the Video Group received 15 proposals, and 10 output documents were formed. The meeting basically determined the annual plan of the Workgroup. The Workgroup website www.avs.org.cn was officially open to the public, and the Workgroup file server was open to members.

The Audio Video Coding Standards Workgroup of China was established in Beijing Jade Palace Hotel. Bi Kaichun, Director of the Department of Science and Technology of the Ministry of Information Industry, presided over the meeting, and Xu Shuncheng, Director of the Department of Science and Technology of the Ministry of Information Industry expounded the importance of independent standards and put forward specific requirements for the Workgroup. Academician Li Guojie, Director of the Institute of Computing Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, warmly welcomed the workgroup to the Institute of Computing Technology. Professor Mei Hong, an expert on the subject of computer software and hardware technology of the "863" plan, gave specific instructions on the technical work of the Workgroup. Qian Yueliang, an expert in the Major Technical Standards Project expert group of the Ministry of Science and Technology, hoped to make breakthroughs in technical standards. Professor Gao Wen, Leader of the Workgroup, reported on the preparations and work plan of the Workgroup. Dr. Huang Tiejun, Secretary-General of the Workgroup, discussed and completed the Workgroup Charter with the participating members. The representatives from the first batch of members including Beijing Fuguo Digital Technology Co., Ltd., Beijing University of Technology, Beijing Broadcasting Institute, Beihang University, Chuangzhi Digital Technology Co., Ltd., University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Philips (China), Huawei, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Tsinghua University, Optical Memory National Engineering Research Center, Shenzhen StateMicro Electronics Co., Ltd., MSRA, the Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, attended the meeting. The meeting confirmed Lu Hanqing, Li Bo, and Zhao Xuxia as the conveners of the Requirements and Testing Group; Yang Shiqiang, Zhu Guangxi, and Zeng Yongqin as the conveners of the System and Implementation Group; Li Weiping, Wu Feng and Zhou Jingli as the conveners of the Video Group; Pan Xingde, Hu Ruimin and Chen Yuanzhi as the conveners of the Audio Group; and Liu Wenyu and Zhu Bin as the conveners of the Security and Protection Group. The groups discussed the work plan.

The Science and Technology Department of the Ministry of Information Industry issued an announcement on "the Establishment of Audio Video Coding Standards Workgroup of China" in China Electronics News, welcomed the active participation of domestic production, learning, research, application and other institutions related to digital video and audio technology to collect the first batch of members.

The preparatory meeting of the Digital Audio and Video Coding Standardization Task Force was held at the Institute of Computing Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Xu Shuncheng and Han Jun, Leaders of the Science and Technology Department of the Ministry of Information Industry, presided over the meeting; the audio and video experts Wang Lei, Liu Tiehua, Lyu Rui, Zhu Guangxi, Zhu Feng, Wu Feng, Li Weiping, Yang Shiqiang, Shen Lansun, Zhao Xinhua, Gao Wen, and Huang Tiejun attended the meeting and decided to set up the Digital Audio and Video Coding Standardization Task Force.

The "10th Five-Year Plan" and "863" plan released the second batch of project application guidelines. The subject of computer software and hardware in the information field has established a key project "Digital Media Processing Technology and Application Platform" (2002AA11403). The target of this project: for major key digital audio and video front-end technologies and systems such as broadband network media, mobile media communications, (HD) digital TV, and high-density optical discs, and their applications in health, environmental protection and other important national fields, gather the existing achievements of domestic digital media processing technology, develop algorithms and patented technologies with independent intellectual property rights, organize the formulation of national video and audio coding and compression standards, participate in the formulation of relevant international standards, improve the independent development capability and economic benefits of China's digital audio and video related industry groups, and carry out application promotion, in order to achieve good economic and social benefits. The Institute of Computing Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, in conjunction with Tsinghua University, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Beijing Fuguo Digital Technology Co., Ltd., SVA Information Industry Co., Ltd., Huawei, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing Broadcasting Institute, applied for and received the support of this project (Topic No.: 2002AA119010), conduct in-depth research and development of digital audio and video coding technology by taking advantages of domestic research and development of digital audio and video coding technology based on the existing achievement.

The Xiangshan Science Conference held its 178th academic symposium in Beijing with the theme of "Broadband Networks and Secure Streaming Media Technology". This conference aimed to discuss important scientific issues in the field of broadband network media and the standardization of streaming media technology. Dr. Gao Wen (Chinese Academy of Sciences), Dr. Zhang Yaqin (Microsoft Research Asia) and Dr. Sun Huifang (Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, MERL) served as executive chairmen of this meeting. More than 60 experts and scholars from domestic and foreign universities, research institutes and large enterprises attended the seminar. Professor Gao Wen first made a keynote commentary report, and 12 experts including MPEG experts Professor Li Weiping (Lehigh University, USA) and Dr. Chen Xuemin (Broadcom Company, USA) made special reports. The domestic and foreign experts at the meeting fully affirmed the feasibility of China's formulation of video and audio compression standards with independent intellectual property rights. Representatives from industry, university and research institutes strongly called for the concentration of China's scientific research and development strength to jointly research and develop China's digital audio and video standards. “They suggested that China's relevant science and technology plans should focus on supporting the research and development of streaming media technology, and provide technical support for China's information appliances, broadband network media, mobile media communications, (high-definition) digital TV, high-density optical discs and other industries.” “It was suggested that under the leadership of the National Information Standardization Committee, Streaming Media Standardization Task Force should be established to solve the problems of national concern through standards and promote industrial technology development and academic research." (Source: Bulletin of "The 178th Xiangshan Scientific Conference")

At the 7th meeting of JVT (Pattaya, Thailand), the Workgroup submitted the National Comments (JVT-G035), asking JVT to adhere to the existing RFB (Royalty Free Baseline) rules, organized 7 domestic representative enterprises (AMOI, Changhong, Datang, Haier, Huawei, Lenovo, and SVA) and 24 international enterprises to put forward the proposal "Support for JVT Royalty Free Baseline" (JVT-G036), which effectively promoted the implementation of the JVT-RFB rules and created favorable environmental conditions for the successful formulation of the AVS video standard.