The official added that on May 26, the NDRC and eight other departments jointly issued a statement; they will make a unified deployment to supervise construction of tender invitations and applications. The NDRC will work together with relevant departments under the State Council in a joint effort to draft relevant policy documents, with a view to resolutely stopping the practice of restricting the use of domestically-produced equipment, and maintaining a market environment in which tenders are invited and submitted on the basis of fair competition.

 

The official further stressed that if any government-funded project falls into the government procurement category, domestically-produced products should be purchased unless a statutory situation exists in which such purchases cannot be made. For example the required project work, goods or service cannot be obtained within the Chinese territory, or cannot be obtained under reasonable commercial conditions within the Chinese territory. If imported products have to be purchased, an application must first be submitted to the relevant authorities for examination and approval in accordance with relevant state regulations before the procurement activity can proceed.

 

The announcement called for relevant authorities to pay special attention to the content of applications involving the purchase of independently-developed new products, and supervise their implementation when examining and approving an application for funds or approval for a proposed project classed as a key state construction project or involving the purchase of major equipment and products using government budget funds.

 

It also requires that during the implementation phase of an industrial project in the equipment manufacturing sector or other industries, or a project involving the purchase of imported electromechanical equipment, supervision and law enforcement be strengthened on tender invitation and application activities, and increased efforts be made to investigate and punish illegal behaviors like adding discriminatory conditions and excluding bids.

 

The document also pointed out that for projects wholly or partially funded by the government, the use of discriminatory conditions in tender invitation documents, a direct or indirect requirement that products or functional units of foreign brands be purchased, and any other illegal behavior aimed at limiting the use of domestically-produced equipment will be investigated and held legally accountable in accordance with relevant laws and regulations.