This article offers an exploratory analysis of patent standardization in China by examining the use of WAPI and IEEE 802.11 standards in China’s telecommunications service industry. Around 2003, SAC and MII mandated WAPI as the national standard for Wi-Fi products in China. This action was brought in with the purpose of promoting standards in the Chinese telecommunications industry through government contracts and domestic market advantages. This article provides observations on the impact of national standardization in China, and would argue that, with regard to technology, the use of political power can achieve significant outcomes in domestic markets, but might also result in a lack of competitiveness in international markets. This article describes the current implications of Wi-Fi standards in China and comes to a solid conclusion: Huawei and IEEE are working together and developing a later series of the IEEE 802.11 standard equipment and this situation demonstrates that the intervention of government bodies provides limited help to the industry. Alternatively, government bodies should perform as intermediators to enable the creation of a number of platforms for transnational cooperation.