According to China Communications Standards Association, China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has published a unified standard for earphone interfaces of mobile phones and the standard will be officially implemented from September 1, 2009.

Under the new standard, the wired earphone interfaces of mobile phones should use standard concentric connectors. By diameter of connectors, interfaces are divided into a 2.5 millimeter standard and a 3.5 millimeter standard. The specification of the 3.5 millimeter standard earphone interface is the same as those used on computers and many MP3 players.

Concentric connectors that meet the new unified standard will have a standard wired earphone interface mark. The new standard will not be implemented compulsively from the beginning and a six-month transition period will be available to manufacturers.

After the implementation of this unified standard, consumers can better select earphones for their mobile phones, which is expected to lower the costs of mobile phone peripherals and reduce e-waste.