Rules for Fair Competition Review in the Bidding Field

Rules for Fair Competition Review in the Bidding Field

Order of the National Development and Reform Commission of the People's Republic of China, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People's Republic of China, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development of the People's Republic of China, the Ministry of Transport of the People's Republic of China, the Ministry of Water Resources of the People's Republic of China, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the People's Republic of China, the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China, and the State Administration for Market Regulation
(No. 16)

The Rules for Fair Competition Review in the Bidding Field, as deliberated and adopted at the 8th executive meeting of the National Development and Reform Commission on January 31, 2024, are hereby issued and shall come into force on May 1, 2024.

Zheng Shanjie, Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission
Jin Zhuanglong, Minister of Industry and Information Technology
Ni Hong, Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development
Li Xiaopeng, Minister of Transport
Li Guoying, Minister of Water Resources
Tang Renjian, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs
Wang Wentao, Minister of Commerce
Luo Wen, Director of the State Administration for Market Regulation
March 25, 2024

Rules for Fair Competition Review in the Bidding Field

Chapter I General Provisions
Article 1 These Rules are developed in accordance with the Bidding Law of the People's Republic of China, the Regulation on the Implementation of the Bidding Law of the People's Republic of China, and other relevant provisions for the purposes of strengthening and regulating fair competition review in the bidding field and maintaining the market order of fair competition.
Article 2 These Rules shall apply to fair competition review in the bidding field.
Article 3 For the purposes of these Rules, “fair competition review” means the activities in which administrative authorities and organizations empowered by a law or regulation to administer public affairs (hereinafter collectively referred to as the “policymaking authorities”) examine and assess whether rules, administrative regulatory documents, other policy documents, or specific policies and measures (hereinafter collectively referred to as the “policies and measures”) involving the economic activities of business entities in the bidding field exclude or restrict competition.
Except for the exceptions for fair competition review prescribed by any law, administrative regulation, or provisions of the State Council, relevant policies and measures shall not be issued without fair competition review or it is found upon review that any circumstance that excludes or restricts competition exists.
Article 4 A policymaking authority shall perform its duties of fair competition review. A policymaking authority shall determine a specialized institution to be specifically responsible for the fair competition review of policies and measures.
If policies and measures are jointly developed by multiple departments, the lead department shall organize the fair competition review, and each participating department shall be responsible for the policies and measures within the scope of its duties.
Chapter II Review Standards
Article 5 A policymaking authority shall respect and safeguard the autonomy of employers in organizing bidding, selecting bidding agencies, and preparing prequalification documents and bidding documents, and shall not develop any of the following policies and measures:
(1) Determining a bidding agency for the employer or illegally restricting the methods for the employer's selection of the bidding agency.
(2) Determining the bidding qualification and technical and commercial conditions for the employer.
(3) Determining the specific methods for qualification review or bid evaluation for the employer.
(4) Determining specific qualification review standards or bid evaluation standards for the employer.
(5) Determining members of the bid evaluation committee for the employer.
(6) Restricting the employer's independent selection of an electronic trading system that has been included in the unified public resource trading platform system.
(7) Forcing the employer or bidding agency to select electronic certification services.
(8) Designating specific trading instruments for the employer or bidding agency.
(9) Designating the contractor (supplier) pre-selection library, qualification library, or alternative list, among others, for the employer.
(10) Requiring the employer to carry out bidding activities in accordance with local supporting policies such as the list of local innovative products and the list of products to be procured with priority.
(11) Policies and measures restricting the autono......