A preliminary survey by the Pallet Professional Committee of the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing shows that China currently has approximately 50 to 70 million pallets of various types, with an annual increase of about 20 million pallets. Wooden flat pallets account for about 90%, plastic flat pallets for 8%, and steel pallets, composite material pallets, and paper pallets combined account for 2%. The proportion of composite material flat pallets and plastic pallets is increasing significantly.
Currently, pallet specifications in China are quite inconsistent. Besides the machinery industry system using the 800mm×1000mm and 500mm~800mm pallets specified in JB3003-81, in 1996, the China Academy of Transportation Sciences proposed adopting ISO 6780:1988 "General Dimensions and Tolerances for Intermodal Transport Flat Pallets" as the equivalent national standard for pallets in China. Subsequently, the former State Bureau of Technical Supervision approved and issued this equivalent standard under the standard series number GB/T2934-1996, which included four pallet specifications: 1200mm×1000mm, 1200mm×800mm, 1140mm×1140mm and 1219mm×1016mm.
