China to foster high-level opening-up of govt procurement: official

BEIJING - China will actively and productively promote the high-level opening-up of government procurement to optimize the business environment, an official said Monday.

The country will improve the transparency of government procurement to protect the legitimate rights and interests of suppliers in accordance with the law, Xu Hongcai, Vice Minister of Finance said at the China International Public Procurement Forum held during the fifth China International Import Expo.

The value of national government procurement has increased from 100.9 billion yuan ($13.96 billion) in 2002 to 3.64 trillion yuan in 2021, Xu said, adding that the figure for 2002 accounted for 4.6 percent of the nation's fiscal spending, while in 2021 the proportion had risen to 10.1 percent.

Xu said that China has been deepening international communication and cooperation in the area of government procurement and strengthening the construction of the international cooperation platform.

China is seeking to work with all parties to build a vast international public procurement market featuring fair competition and mutual benefit, according to Xu.