By: kekepana.com
China had no effective government procurement laws until the 1980s when some government agencies began to write regulations for their own purchases. These were rudimentary and often the rules of one agency were at odds with the rules of another government agency, leading to a fragmented market. The Tendering & Bidding Law (BL) was issued in 1999 by the State Planning Commission, and was quickly joined in 2002 by the Government Procurement Law (GPL), enacted by the National People’s Congress. The two differ considerably and it is critical to find out which law (and enforcing agency) governs procurements by the government agency or state-owned company you are interested in. Many of the earlier regulations still exist, so the proliferation of confusing and sometimes conflicting procurement rules opens ample ground for corruption.
