Central budget units, Departments of Finance (bureaus) of provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government, and cities separately listed under the Plan, and Finance Bureau of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps:

In order to implement the relevant requirements of the Plan for Deepening the Reform of the Government Procurement System reviewed and adopted by the Deep Reform Commission of the CPC Central Committee and the Notice of The General Office of the State Council on Further Promoting the Implementation of Policies to Optimize the Business Environment by Focusing on the Concerns of Enterprises (Guo Changfa [2018] No. 104), and build a unified, open, competitive and orderly government procurement market system, Matters related to promoting fair competition and optimizing the business environment in the field of government procurement are hereby notified as follows:

First, comprehensively clean up regulations and practices in government procurement that impede fair competition

All regions and departments shall strictly implement the requirements of the Government Procurement Law of the People's Republic of China and other relevant laws and regulations, and protect the rights of all types of market players to participate in government procurement activities on an equal basis. It is necessary to comprehensively clean up regulations and practices in the field of government procurement that impede fair competition, focusing on cleaning up and correcting the following problems:

(1) applying differential or discriminatory treatment to suppliers based on their form of ownership, organizational form or equity structure, setting unequal terms for private enterprises, and discriminating between products and services produced and provided in China by domestic and foreign-funded enterprises;

(b) In addition to the small and sporadic procurement applicable to the agreement supply, fixed-point procurement and the Ministry of Finance, through the shortlisting method to set up alternative databases, list databases, qualification databases as the qualification conditions for participation in government procurement activities, preventing suppliers from entering the government procurement market;

(3) requiring suppliers to carry out unnecessary registration or registration before government procurement activities, or requiring the establishment of branches, setting up or disguised setting up barriers to enter the government procurement market;

(d) set or disguised set the scale of suppliers, establishment years and other thresholds, restricting suppliers to participate in government procurement activities;

(e) requiring suppliers to purchase specified software as a condition for participating in e-government procurement activities;

(6) Failure to publish or provide procurement project information in a timely, effective and complete manner in accordance with the law, preventing suppliers from participating in government procurement activities;

(7) forcing the purchaser to choose the procurement agency by random means such as lotteries or lottery or by comparison, and interfering with the purchaser's independent selection of the procurement agency;

(8) setting up matters such as examination and approval, filing, supervision, punishment, and charging that have no basis in laws and regulations;

(9) Except for the circumstances provided for in Article 68 of the Measures for the Administration of Tendering and Bidding for Government Procurement of Goods and Services, the purchaser is required to determine the winning bid and the supplier of the transaction by random means;

(10) Other situations that hinder fair competition in violation of relevant laws and regulations.

All regions and departments should promptly clean up regulations and practices that impede fair competition in the field of government procurement, and the relevant results should be disclosed to the public in a timely manner and submitted to the Ministry of Finance before October 31, 2019.

2. Strictly implement the fair competition review system

All regions and departments shall formulate government procurement systems and methods involving market players, strictly implement the fair competition review system, fully listen to the opinions of market players and relevant industry associations and chambers of commerce, assess the impact on market competition, and prevent the exclusion or restriction of market competition. The key review system measures are whether to set unreasonable and discriminatory access conditions to exclude potential suppliers from participating in government procurement activities, whether to set administrative approval without legal and regulatory basis or record with the nature of approval, and whether to give preferential treatment to specific suppliers in violation of regulations. After examination, it is found that it does not have the effect of excluding or restricting competition, it may be promulgated and implemented; If it has the effect of excluding or restricting competition, it shall not be issued or adjusted to meet the relevant requirements. Without fair competition review, shall not be introduced.

In the process of implementing the relevant systems and measures for government procurement, their impact on the national unified market and fair competition should be regularly or timely assessed, and those that hinder the unified market and fair competition should be modified and improved or abolished in a timely manner.

Third, we will strengthen the management of government procurement

Optimize procedures for procurement activities. If the legal representative of the supplier has issued a power of attorney, the legal representative of the supplier shall not be required to purchase the procurement documents in person or attend the bid opening or negotiation. The purchaser or purchasing agency shall not require the supplier to provide the information that can be queried through the Internet or the relevant information system. Except for the necessary original verification, the supplier shall not be required to provide paper materials at the same time for the materials that the supplier can provide online. For suppliers in accordance with the provisions of the submission of various declaration letters, letters of commitment, shall not be required to provide the relevant certification documents issued by the relevant departments.

Detailed procurement activity implementation requirements. Where the purchaser permits the performance of the contract by subcontracting, it shall specify in the procurement documents the specific content, amount or proportion of the performance that can be subcontracted. The format and form requirements of the bidding (response) documents shall be simplified and clear by the purchaser and the procurement agency, and shall not restrict and affect the supplier's bidding (response) due to non-substantive format and form problems such as binding, paper and document ordering. Where electronic procurement is realized, the purchaser and procurement agency shall provide electronic procurement documents to the supplier free of charge; Where electronic procurement has not been achieved, purchasers and procurement agencies are encouraged to provide paper procurement documents to suppliers free of charge.

Regulate deposit collection and return. The purchaser and purchasing agency shall allow the supplier to pay or submit the deposit in non-cash forms such as checks, bills of exchange, promissory notes and letters of guarantee at its own choice. If the bid (response) deposit is collected, the deadline for receipt of the account (submission of the guarantee letter) agreed by the purchaser and the procurement agency shall be consistent with the deadline for submission of the bid (response), and shall be returned to the supplier in a timely manner in accordance with the provisions. Where the performance bond is collected, the manner, time, conditions and non-return circumstances of the return of the performance bond shall be stipulated in the procurement contract, and the liability for breach of contract if the return of the performance bond is overdue shall be specified. Purchasers and purchasing agencies shall not collect deposits without legal and regulatory basis.

Timely payment of purchase funds. A government procurement contract shall stipulate the method, time and conditions of payment of funds, and specify the liability for breach of contract of overdue payment of funds. For meeting the payment conditions stipulated in the contract, the purchaser shall, within 30 days after receipt of the invoice, pay the funds to the supplier's account as agreed in the contract, and shall not delay the payment on the grounds of institutional change, staff turnover, policy adjustment, etc., and shall not take the obligations not stipulated in the procurement documents and the contract as a condition for payment to the supplier.

Improve the compensation and compensation mechanism for the interests of suppliers. The purchaser and the supplier shall clearly stipulate the liability for breach of contract of both parties in the government procurement contract. Where a government procurement contract is changed, suspended or terminated due to reasons caused by the purchaser, the purchaser shall compensate or compensate the supplier for the losses suffered in accordance with the contract.

Fourth, accelerate electronic government procurement

Promote the electronic implementation of procurement projects. It is necessary to speed up the improvement of the online transaction function of the electronic government procurement platform, realize the online publication of procurement announcements, the provision of procurement documents, the submission of tender (response) documents, and the implementation of electronic bid opening and electronic review. Gradually establish the connection between the electronic government procurement platform and the financial business, internal management of procurement units and other information systems, improve and optimize the contract signing, performance acceptance, credit evaluation, user feedback, submission of invoices, fund payment and other online processes.

We will accelerate the implementation of the "Internet plus government procurement" initiative. Actively promote the construction of electronic government procurement platforms and electronic stores, establish and improve unified technical standards and data norms, gradually realize nationwide interconnection, promote data sharing with public resource trading platforms, and improve the convenience of suppliers to participate in government procurement activities.

Fifth, further enhance the transparency of government procurement

We will strengthen transparency in government procurement. We will improve the service functions of the government procurement information release platform. Government procurement information release platforms such as the Chinese Government procurement website and local sub-websites shall provide convenient and free online search services, and provide all legally disclosed government procurement information to market players free of charge. Promote the opening of bid activities to the public, on the premise of ensuring the normal order of bid opening, allow other people other than bidders and their representatives to observe the bid opening activities.

Promote the disclosure of procurement intentions. Procurement intention includes main procurement items, procurement content and demand profiles, budget amount, estimated procurement time, etc. In order to facilitate suppliers to understand procurement information in advance, all regions and departments shall create conditions to actively promote the disclosure of procurement intentions (except confidential information). Since 2020, some central departments and localities have been selected to carry out pilot public procurement intentions. On the basis of pilot projects, we will gradually make public the procurement intentions of budget units at all levels.

6. Improve mechanisms for questioning, complaints, and administrative rulings on government procurement

Unimpeded channels for suppliers to question and complain. Research on the establishment of a fast ruling channel compatible with the "Internet + government procurement", to provide suppliers with unified standards, efficient and convenient rights protection services. Purchasers, purchasing agencies and financial departments at all levels shall respond to and deal with the questions and complaints raised by suppliers in a timely manner according to law. Improve the internal control system of question reply, conditional purchasers and centralized procurement agencies should realize the separation of government procurement question reply posts and operation and execution posts, and further improve the government procurement question and complaint handling mechanism.

Administrative penalties shall be imposed according to law and regulations. Financial departments at all levels to implement government procurement administrative penalties should protect the parties' right to inform, statement, defense, hearing, etc. in accordance with the law, to ensure the legality of the procedure. Adhere to the principle of combining punishment and education, correctly apply and distinguish between lighter punishment, reduced punishment and no punishment, and the administrative punishment should be commensurate with the facts, nature, circumstances and social harm of the illegal act.

All regions and departments should fully understand the importance of maintaining the market order of fair competition in government procurement and optimizing the business environment for government procurement, strengthen organizational leadership, clarify work responsibilities, make thorough arrangements, strengthen supervision and inspection, and ensure that all requirements are implemented in place.

This notice shall take effect as of September 1, 2019.

Ministry of Finance

July 26, 2019