Builders of most key projects in which the central government has invested in recent years were found through invitations for public bidding, said the country's bidding watchdog.
The bidding results came after the State Development Planning Commission (SDPC), which is authorized to govern public bidding and inspect key State-invested projects, conducted a recent examination of 89 major projects nationwide.
"The situation has changed a lot since 2000, when China's bidding law was brought into effect," said an official from SDPC's Key Project Inspectors Office.
Among the 89 inspected projects in all of China's provinces and autonomous regions, excluding the Tibet Autonomous Region, 85 per cent were contracted through public bidding, the official said.
Roads, railways, bridges and grain depots, were built mainly with funding from treasury bonds.
"Regular supervision of management and use of such bonds is necessary," the official said.
China made a pro-active fiscal policy its main tool of macro-economic management in 1998 to avoid negative impacts from the 1997 Asian financial crisis.
About 150 billion yuan (US$18 billion) worth of long-term treasury bonds were issued last year, bringing the total bond issued from 1998 through 2001 to 510 billion yuan (US$61.4 billion).
Funds for another 150 billion yuan (US$18 billion) to be raised this year will be used mainly for development projects in the western regions, technological transformation of key enterprises and water diversion from the south to the north.
Public bidding for construction contracts fosters fair competition among construction firms and guarantees sound quality of the projects, the official said.
But a recent circular from the Ministry of Construction said that public bidding has been undermined by regional protectionism and monopolies.
Such illegal activities continue to thrive in some parts of the country because of lax enforcement of bidding law, the circular said.
To curb the illegal manipulation of the bidding process and ensure the quality of construction projects, government departments should focus more attention on the bids, said Xu Bo, deputy director-general of the ministry's Department of Safety and Quality Supervision and Construction Development.
"The whole bidding process should be placed under public supervision, and anyone found guilty of fraud should be punished," Xu said.
The people in charge of bids should also be held responsible if any irregularities occur, the circular said.
(China Daily May 15, 2002)
