Public Procurement in China : A Long March Towards Integration into the Global Trading System

Owing to its massive state sector, public procurement in China is a critical element of public policy. At the same time, because of its considerable market size, public procurement is of increasing importance for international trade, and thus subject to enacted regulations in most countries and has been put on the agenda of international and regional trade organisations, such as the WTO. This book examines China’s public procurement regime since the launching of market-oriented reform in 1978. It outlines the development of the relevant national laws and their implementing regulations, which have evolved from scratch since the onset of economic reform. It considers the impact of WTO membership, and the steps China has taken to initiate negotiations on accession to the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) by the end of 2007. It also provides a detailed picture of the current legal framework, assessing the impact of key legislative measures including the Tendering Law of 2000 and the Government Procurement Law of 2003. While both laws were drafted with the help of international experts and organisations such as the EU, there remain a number of inconsistencies in China’s public procurement regime, such as the overlap between the scope of application in laws and jurisdiction of government agencies. This book shows how these issues, that are hard for the international community to understand, will have a profound impact on China’s domestic policy agenda and its integration into the global trading system. Overall, this book is important not only for those who want to understand China’s procurement regime and public policy, but also for business people requiring a detailed picture of the current legal and regulatory environment.