AQSIQ was formed as the successor government body to the State Bureau of Quality and Technological Supervision (SBQTS). These regulations establish protection and requirements for products using place names if (1) the product is grown or bred from a certain place name location and all of the raw materials come from that place, (2) products produced elsewhere but for which all of the raw materials come from the place name location, and (3) products where some of the raw materials come from elsewhere but are produced in the place name location using specialized techniques. This approach is intended to accommodate the use of geographical indications in handicrafts like embroidery or ceramics. The regulation sets strict standards for products produced under the geographical indication, and non-compliance results in a producer losing the ability to use the place name. In 2018, the AQSIQ was merged with the newly created
State Administration for Market Regulation as part of the
deepening the reform of the Party and state institutions. ==List of heads==