Measures for the Administration of Government Procurement Methods Other Than an Invitation for Bids

Article 2: These Measures shall apply where a purchaser or procurement agency adopts a procurement method other than an invitation for bids to procure goods, works or services.

For the purposes of these Measures, the phrase “procurement method other than an invitation for bids” means the competitive negotiation, single source procurement or price inquiry procurement method.

The term “competitive negotiations” means a procurement method whereby a negotiating committee negotiates with qualified suppliers concerning the procurement of goods, works or services, the suppliers submit reply documents and final quotes based on the requirements of the negotiation documents and the purchaser determines the winning supplier from among the candidates put forward by the negotiating committee.

The term “single source procurement” means a procurement method whereby the purchaser procures goods, works or services from a certain specific supplier.

The term “price inquiry” means a procurement method whereby a price inquiry committee issues a notice of price inquiry for the procurement of goods to qualified suppliers, requesting that the suppliers quote on a single occasion a non-modifiable price and the purchaser determines the winning supplier from among the candidates put forward by the price inquiry committee.

Article 3: When a purchaser or procurement agency is to procure any of the goods, works or services set forth below, it may do so by way of the competitive negotiation or single source procurement method; or when procuring goods, it may also opt for the price inquiry procurement method:

(1) goods or services found on the lawfully formulated centralised procurement list and the amount of which does not reach the threshold for a public invitation for bids;

(2) goods or services not found on the lawfully formulated centralised procurement list, where the procurement limit rate is exceeded and the amount of which does not reach the threshold for a public invitation for bids;

(3) goods or services the amount of which reaches the threshold for a public invitation for bids but for which approval for procurement without a public invitation for bids has been obtained; or

(4) government procured works falling outside the scope of those construction projects for which the Law on the Invitation for and Submission of Bids and its Implementing Regulations require an invitation for bids.

Part Two: General provisions

Article 4: Where a goods or services procurement project reaches the threshold for a public invitation for bids but the intent is to use a procurement method other than an invitation for bids, the purchaser shall apply to the finance department of the people's government at the level of city (divided into districts)/autonomous prefecture or above before commencing the procurement activities and after securing the consent of the competent budget entity.

Article 5: Where an application is made to adopt a procurement method other than an invitation for bids pursuant to Article 4 hereof, the purchaser shall submit the materials set forth below to the finance department and be liable for the truthfulness of such materials:

(1) an account of the basic particulars of the project, such as the purchaser's name, the name of the procurement project and an overview of the project;

(2) the budgeted amount for the project, the official reply on the budget or proof of the source of the funds; and

(3) the procurement method applied for and the reasons therefor.

Article 6: The purchaser or procurement agency shall arrange for the carrying out of the activities for procurement without an invitation for bids in accordance with the Government Procurement Law and these Measures and take the measures necessary to ensure that the evaluation is carried out under conditions of strict confidentiality.

No entity or individual may illegally interfere in or affect the evaluation process or outcome.

Article 7: The competitive negotiation committee or price inquiry committee shall comprise an odd number of purchaser representatives and evaluation experts numbering at least three, with the number of evaluation experts not being less than two-thirds of the total number of members of the competitive negotiation committee or price inquiry committee. The purchaser may not participate in the evaluation of a procurement project of its own department or entity in the capacity of evaluation expert. The personnel of a procurement agency may not participate in the evaluation of a procurement project in which their agency is acting as agent.

For a goods or services procurement project that reaches the threshold for a public invitation for bids or government procured works the scale of which reaches the threshold for an invitation for bids, the competitive negotiation committee or price inquiry committee shall comprise an odd number of persons numbering at least five.

For a government procurement project where the competitive negotiation or price inquiry method is to be used, the evaluation experts shall be chosen at random from the list of experts in the relevant specialty in the database of evaluation experts for government procurement. Where it would be difficult to determine suitable evaluation experts through the random method for a competitive negotiation procurement project in which the technology is complex or the degree of specialisation high, the evaluation experts may be selected at one's discretion subject to the consent of the competent budget entity. For a competitive negotiation procurement project in which the technology is complex or the degree of specialisation high, there shall be at least one legal expert among the evaluation experts.

Article 8: The competitive negotiation committee or price inquiry committee shall perform the following duties in the course of the procurement activities:

(1) confirming or formulating the negotiation documents or price inquiry notice;

(2) determining not less than three suppliers from the list of appropriately qualified suppliers to participate in the negotiation or price inquiry;

(3) reviewing and evaluating the reply documents of the suppliers;

(4) requiring the suppliers to explain or clarify their reply documents;

(5) preparing the evaluation report; and

(6) informing the purchaser or procurement agency of violations of laws or regulations by the suppliers discovered in the course of the evaluation.

Article 9: A member of a competitive negotiation committee or price inquiry committee shall perform the following obligations:

(1) complying with discipline and laws, and performing his/her duties objectively, impartially and with integrity;

(2) carrying out his/her evaluation independently in accordance with the provisions of the procurement documents, and bearing legal liability for his/her own evaluation opinions;

(3) participating in the drafting of the evaluation report;

(4) cooperating with the purchaser or procurement agency in responding to questions raised by the suppliers; and

(5) cooperating in the complaint handling and monitoring inspection work of the finance department.

Article 10: The negotiation documents or price inquiry notice shall be formulated in light of the features of the procurement project and based on the actual requirements of the purchaser, and shall be subject to the written consent of the purchaser. The purchaser shall treat the satisfaction of its actual requirements as the principle and may not inflate the procurement criteria, such as the fund budget and asset allocation, without authorisation.

The negotiation documents or price inquiry notice may not require or indicate a supplier name or a specific brand of goods, or contain technical, service or other such conditions that point to a certain supplier.

Article 11: The negotiation documents or price inquiry notice shall include the supplier qualifications and criteria, procurement invitation, procurement method, procurement budget, procurement requirements, procurement procedure, price makeup or quote requirements, requirements in respect of the preparation of the reply documents, the deadline and place for submission of the reply documents, the amount and form of payment of the deposit, the criteria for determining the winner, etc.

In addition to the information specified in the first paragraph of this Article, the negotiation documents shall additionally expressly state the matters that the negotiating committee could substantively change based on the way the negotiations with the suppliers proceed, including the technical or service requirements in the procurement requirements and the terms of the draft contract.

Article 12: The purchaser or procurement agency shall invite not less than three appropriately qualified suppliers, by way of the issuance of an announcement, random selection from the supplier database established by the finance department at the provincial level or above, or written recommendation respectively by the purchaser and evaluation experts, to participate in the competitive negotiation or price inquiry procurement activities.

Suppliers that satisfy the conditions set forth in the first paragraph of Article 22 of the Government Procurement Law may join the supplier database before the commencement of the procurement activities. The finance department may not charge any fee to a supplier applying to be included in the database and may not use the supplier database to seal off the region or industry.

Where the suppliers are to be selected by written recommendation of the purchaser and evaluation experts, the purchaser and evaluation experts shall each issue their written recommendation opinions. The percentage of suppliers recommended by the purchaser may not exceed 50% of the total number of recommended suppliers.

Article 13: A supplier shall prepare its reply documents in accordance with the requirements of the negotiation documents or price inquiry notice, and it shall be legally liable for the truthfulness and lawfulness of the reply documents it submits.

Article 14: The purchaser or procurement agency may require the suppliers to pay a deposit before the deadline for the submission of the reply documents. The deposit shall be paid in non-monetary form, such as cheque, bill of exchange, promissory note, online bank payment or guarantee issued by a financial institution or security agency. The amount of the deposit shall not exceed 2% of the procurement project budget.

If suppliers have formed a consortium, one or more of the members of the consortium may pay the deposit, and the deposit that it or they pay shall be binding on all of the parties to the consortium.

Article 15: The suppliers shall serve the reply documents sealed at the designated location by the deadline specified in the negotiation documents or price inquiry notice. Reply documents served after the deadline shall be invalid, and the purchaser, procurement agency or negotiating committee/price inquiry committee shall refuse to accept the same.

A supplier may, before the deadline for submitting price inquiry reply documents, supplement, revise or withdraw the reply documents it has submitted, and notify the purchaser or procurement agency in writing. The supplemented or revised portions shall constitute an integral part of the reply documents. In the event of a discrepancy between the supplemented or revised portions and the reply documents, the supplemented or revised portions shall prevail.

Article 16: When examining the reply documents for validity, completeness and degree of concuence, the negotiating committee or price inquiry committee may require the suppliers to clarify, explain or correct contents of their reply documents the meaning of which is unclear, inconsistencies in statements on the same issue or obvious typographical or calculation errors. The clarification, explanation or correction effected by a supplier may not exceed the scope of its reply documents or modify the substantive contents of its reply documents.

When the negotiating committee or price inquiry committee requires a supplier to clarify, explain or correct its reply documents, it shall do so in writing. The clarification, explanation or correction effected by the supplier shall be signed or its official stamp affixed thereto by its legal representative or his/her authorised representative. If signed by an authorised representative, the power of attorney of the legal representative shall be included. If the supplier is a natural person, he/she shall personally sign and include his/her identity document.

Article 17: The negotiating committee or price inquiry committee shall prepare its evaluation report based on the evaluation record and evaluation outcome. The main contents thereof shall include:

(1) the specific method by which the suppliers were invited to participate in the procurement activities and relevant details thereof, and the list of suppliers that participated in the procurement activities;

(2) the evaluation date and place, and the list of the members of the negotiating committee or price inquiry committee;

(3) the record and an account of the evaluation process, including details of the examination of the suppliers' qualifications, details of the evaluation of the suppliers' reply documents, details of the negotiations, details of the quotes, etc.; and

(4) the list of candidates put forward and the reasons therefor.

The evaluation report shall be signed in acknowledgement by all of the members of the negotiating committee or price inquiry committee. Where a member of the negotiating committee or price inquiry committee has a dissenting opinion on the evaluation report, the negotiating committee or price inquiry committee shall recommend the candidates based on the principle of the minority yielding to the majority and the procurement process shall continue. A member of the negotiating committee or price inquiry committee that has a dissenting opinion on the evaluation report shall sign his/her dissenting opinion and give his/her reasons therefor in the report, and the negotiating committee or price inquiry committee shall record the relevant details in writing. If a member of the negotiating committee or price inquiry committee refuses to sign the report and does not give an account in writing of his/her dissenting opinion and the reasons therefor, he/she shall be deemed to agree to the evaluation report.

Article 18: The purchaser or procurement agency shall announce the outcome in the media designated by the financial authority at the provincial level or above, issue the notice of acceptance to the winning supplier and announce the competitive negotiation documents or price inquiry notice together with the outcome within two working days after the winning supplier has been determined. The outcome announcement shall include the following information:

(1) the names, addresses and contact information of the purchaser and procurement agency;

(2) the project name and number;

(3) the name and address of the winning supplier and the transaction amount;

(4) the description, specifications, models, quantities, unit prices and service requirements of the main subject matters; and

(5) the list of the members of the negotiating committee or price inquiry committee and the list of single source procurement personnel.

If written recommendation of suppliers to participate in the procurement activities was used, the recommendation opinions of the purchaser and evaluation experts shall additionally be announced.

Article 19: The purchaser shall execute a government procurement contract with the winning supplier based on the contract text determined in the procurement documents and matters such as the procurement subject matter, specifications, models, procurement amount, procurement quantities, and technical and service requirements within 30 days from the date of issuance of the notice of acceptance.

The purchaser may not impose on the supplier any requirements that exceed the procurement documents as conditions for the execution of the contract or enter into an agreement with the winning supplier that runs counter to the contract text or substantive contents such as the procurement subject matter, specifications, models, procurement amount, procurement quantities, or technical or service requirements determined in the procurement documents.

Article 20: Once the procurement activities have concluded, the purchaser or procurement agency shall refund the suppliers' deposits in a timely manner, unless it cannot do so in a timely manner due to a reason attributable to a supplier itself. The deposits of the unsuccessful suppliers shall be refunded within five working days after issuance of the notice of acceptance, and the deposit of the winning supplier shall be refunded within five working days after the execution of the procurement contract.

A deposit will not be refunded if:

(1) the supplier withdrew its reply documents after the deadline for the submission thereof;

(2) the supplier provided fraudulent materials in its reply documents;

(3) the winning bidder fails to execute a contract with the purchaser other than due to force majeure or other circumstance recognised in the negotiation documents or price inquiry notice;

(4) the supplier maliciously colluded with the purchaser, another supplier or the procurement agency; or

(5) another circumstance as specified in the procurement documents applies.

Article 21: The purchaser or procurement agency may not organise a new evaluation for any reason other than an erroneous determination in the examination of qualifications or error in a price calculation. If the purchaser or the procurement agency finds that the negotiating committee or price inquiry committee failed to carry out the evaluation in accordance with the criteria for the determination of the winner specified in the procurement documents, it shall commence the procurement activities anew and file a written report with the finance department at the same level.

Article 22: If, after issuance of the notice of acceptance, the purchaser changes the winning outcome, or the winning supplier refuses to execute the government procurement contract, for a reason other than force majeure or other such factor, it shall bear the attendant legal liability.

If the winning supplier refuses to execute the government procurement contract, the purchaser may determine another supplier as the winning supplier in accordance with the principles set forth in the second paragraph of Article 36 or the second paragraph of Article 49 hereof and execute a government procurement contract therewith, or, alternatively, it may commence the procurement activities anew. The winning supplier that refused to execute the government procurement contract may not participate in the procurement activities commenced anew for the project in question.

Article 23: If a procurement task is cancelled in the course of the procurement activities due to a material change, the purchaser or procurement agency shall terminate the procurement activities, notify all of the suppliers participating in the procurement activities and report the details of the implementation of the project and the reasons for the cancellation of the procurement task to the finance department at the same level.

Article 24: The purchaser or procurement agency shall arrange for the conduct of an acceptance check of the supplier's performance based on the technical, service and other such requirements specified in the procurement contract and issue an acceptance certificate. The acceptance certificate shall include details of the performance of each technical, service and other such requirement. For a large or complex project, a quality inspection institution recognised by the state shall be invited to take part in the acceptance check. The members of the party carrying out the acceptance check shall sign the acceptance certificate and bear the attendant legal liability.

Article 25: The negotiating committee or price inquiry committee members and persons involved in the evaluation work may not disclose details of the evaluation or state secrets or trade secrets to which they were privy in the course of the evaluation.

Article 26: The purchaser or procurement agency shall duly keep the procurement documents of each procurement activity. The procurement documents include the procurement activity record, procurement budget, negotiation documents, price inquiry notice, reply documents, supplier recommendation opinions, evaluation report, the document determining the winning supplier, record of the consultations for a single source procurement, contract text, acceptance certificate, answers to questions, complaint handling decisions and other relevant documents and materials. Procurement documents may be stored in electronic file format.

The procurement activity record shall contain at least the following information:

(1) the type and name of the procurement project;

(2) the procurement project budget, makeup of the funds and contract price;

(3) the procurement method, the reasons for using such method and relevant explanatory materials;

(4) the method for selecting the suppliers to participate in the procurement activities and the reasons therefor;

(5) the criteria for determining the winner and the reasons why the winning supplier was selected; and

(6) if the procurement activities were terminated, the reasons therefor.

Part Three: Competitive negotiation

Article 27: The competitive negotiation procurement method may be used for a procurement project in any of the following circumstances:

(1) after an invitation for bids, no suppliers submitted a bid, or there were no qualified bids, or a new invitation for bids was not possible;

(2) the technology is complex or the nature is special, making the determination of detailed specifications or specific requirements impossible;

(3) the time required to use an invitation for bids cannot satisfy the urgent requirement of the user due to a reason not foreseen by the purchaser or not due to procrastination on the part of the purchaser; or

(4) it is not possible to calculate the total price in advance due to reasons such as the impossibility of determining in advance the time or quantity of an art procurement, or patents, proprietary technology or services.

For a goods or services procurement project for which a public invitation for bids is carried out, if there are only two suppliers that submitted bid documents during the bid invitation process or only two suppliers were found after evaluation to substantively concur with the requirements of the bid invitation documents, the purchaser or procurement agency may, after securing the approval of the finance department at the same level in accordance with Article 4 hereof, carry out procurement by competitive negotiation with the two suppliers in question. The purchaser or procurement agency shall prepare the negotiation documents based on the procurement requirements in the bid invitation documents and establish a negotiating committee, with the negotiation documents to be confirmed by the negotiating committee. Where the circumstances set forth in this paragraph are satisfied, the minimum number of suppliers specified in Articles 33 and 35 hereof may be two.

Article 28: Where the circumstance set forth in Item (1) of the first paragraph or in the second paragraph of Article 27 hereof is satisfied, the following application materials shall be submitted, in addition to the materials specified in Items (1) to (3) of Article 5 hereof, when applying to use the competitive negotiation procurement method:

(1) documentation evidencing that a bid invitation announcement was published in the media designated by the finance department at the provincial level or above;

(2) an account issued by the purchaser or the procurement agency as to whether there were questions raised by the suppliers about the bid invitation documents or bid invitation process and of the details of the handling of such questions; and

(3) the opinions issued by the bid evaluation committee or at least three evaluation experts after discussion to the effect that the bid invitation documents did not contain unreasonable terms.

Article 29: The period from the date of issuance of the negotiation documents to the deadline for the submission of the first reply documents by the suppliers may not be less than three working days.

The purchaser, procurement agency or negotiating committee may carry out the necessary clarification or revision of the issued negotiation documents before the deadline for the submission of the first reply documents, and such clarifications or revisions shall constitute an integral part of the negotiation documents. If a clarification or revision could affect the preparation of the reply documents, the purchaser, procurement agency or negotiating committee shall notify in writing all of the suppliers that received the negotiation documents three working days before the deadline for the submission of the first reply documents, and if there are less than three working days, the deadline for the submission of the first reply documents shall be extended accordingly.

Article 30: The negotiating committee shall evaluate the reply documents and, based on matters such as the procedure and the criteria for determining the winner specified in the negotiation documents, conduct negotiations with the suppliers that substantively concur with the requirements of the negotiation documents. The reply documents that fail to substantively concur with the requirements of the negotiation documents shall be treated as invalid, and the negotiating committee shall inform the relevant supplier.

Article 31: All of the members of the negotiating committee shall together negotiate with each of the suppliers separately, and accord each of the suppliers participating in the negotiations equal negotiation opportunities.

Article 32: During the negotiations, the negotiating committee may substantively modify the technical or service requirements in the procurement requirements and the terms in the draft contract based on the negotiation documents and the way in which the negotiations are proceeding, but may not modify other contents of the negotiation documents. Contents that are substantively modified must be confirmed by the representative(s) of the purchaser.

Substantive modifications made to the negotiation documents shall constitute a valid integral part of the negotiation documents, and the negotiating committee shall simultaneously notify all of the suppliers participating in the negotiations in writing in a timely manner.

The suppliers shall submit their reply documents anew based on the modifications to the negotiation documents and in accordance with the requirements of the negotiating committee, which shall be signed or the official stamps of the suppliers affixed thereto by their legal representatives or authorised representatives. If signed by an authorised representative, the power of attorney from the legal representative shall be included. If a supplier is a natural person, he/she shall personally sign and include his/her identity document.

Article 33: If the negotiation documents are capable of listing in detail the technical and service requirements for the subject matter of the procurement, the negotiating committee shall, after conclusion of the negotiations, require all of the suppliers continuing to participate in the negotiations to submit their final quotes by the specified time. There may not be less than three suppliers submitting final quotes.

If the negotiation documents are unable to list in detail the technical and service requirements for the subject matter of the procurement, and require the provision by the suppliers of final design plans or solutions following negotiations, the negotiating committee shall, after conclusion of the negotiations, vote to recommend the design plans or solutions of at least three suppliers based on the principle of the minority yielding to the majority, and require the suppliers to submit their final quotes by the specified time.

The final quote shall constitute a valid integral part of a supplier's reply documents.

Article 34: A supplier that has submitted reply documents may, depending on the way the negotiations are proceeding, withdraw from the negotiations before it submits its final quote. The purchaser or procurement agency shall refund the deposit of the supplier that withdrew from the negotiations.

Article 35: The negotiating committee shall put forward at least three candidates, presented in the order from low to high of their final quotes, from among the suppliers whose quality and service can satisfy the substantive requirements of the procurement documents, and prepare the evaluation report.

Article 36: The procurement agency shall send the evaluation report to the purchaser for confirmation within two working days after conclusion of the evaluation.

The purchaser shall, within five working days after receipt of the evaluation report, determine the winning supplier from among the candidates put forward in the evaluation report based on the principles that its quality and service both can satisfy the substantive requirements of the procurement documents and of the lowest final quote or, alternatively, it may authorise the negotiating committee in writing to directly determine the winning supplier. If the purchaser fails to determine the winning supplier within the five working days and does not raise any objections, it shall be deemed to have determined the supplier with the lowest final quote put forward in the evaluation report as the winning supplier.

Article 37: The purchaser or procurement agency shall terminate the competitive negotiation procurement activities, issue a project termination announcement giving the reasons therefor and commence the procurement activities anew if:

(1) due to a change in circumstances, the project ceases to satisfy the specified circumstances where the competitive negotiation procurement method is applicable;

(2) a violation of laws or regulations that affects the impartiality of procurement is committed; or

(3) during the course of the procurement process, the number of suppliers that satisfied the competition requirements or whose quote did not exceed the procurement budget is less than three, except if the circumstance specified in the second paragraph of Article 27 hereof applies.

Part Four: Single source procurement

Article 38: If it is intended that the single source procurement method is to be used for a goods or services project where the circumstance specified in Item (1) of Article 31 of the Government Procurement Law applies and the threshold for a public invitation for bids is reached, the purchaser or procurement agency shall, before seeking the approval of the finance department in accordance with Article 4 hereof, announce the same in the media designated by the finance department at the provincial level or above and additionally report the announcement details to the finance department. The announcement period may not be shorter than five working days, and the announcement shall contain the following information:

(1) the purchaser and the name and details of the procurement project;

(2) an account of the goods or services to be procured;

(3) the reason for use of the single source procurement method and the relevant explanation thereof;

(4) the name and address of the proposed unique supplier;

(5) the specific opinions of professionals after discussion to the effect that the relevant supplier is unique due to its patent, proprietary technology or other such reason, and the names, places of employment and titles of the professionals;

(6) the term of the announcement; and

(7) the contact addresses, contact persons and contact telephones of the purchaser, procurement agency and finance department.

Article 39: Any supplier, entity or individual that objects to the announcement of the use of the single source procurement method may report its/his/her written opinion to the purchaser or procurement agency, with a copy to the relevant finance department, during the announcement period.

Article 40: The purchaser or procurement agency shall, after receipt of an objection to the announcement on the use of the single source procurement method, arrange for a supplementary discussion within five working days after the expiration of the announcement period, and if it is found after the discussion that the objection is tenable, another procurement method shall be used in accordance with the law. If it is found, after the discussion, that the objection is untenable, the objection opinion, opinion reached after discussion and the announcement details shall be submitted to the relevant finance department.

The purchaser or procurement agency shall inform the supplier, entity or individual that raised the objection of the conclusions of the supplementary discussion.

Article 41: If the single source procurement method is used for procurement, the purchaser or procurement agency shall arrange for professionals with the relevant expertise to determine with the supplier through consultations a reasonable transaction price and ensure the quality of the procurement project.

Article 42: The single source procurement personnel shall prepare the record of the consultations, which shall mainly contain the following information:

(1) if an announcement was made in accordance with Article 38 hereof, an account of how the announcement proceeded;

(2) the date and place of the consultations, and the list of procurement personnel;

(3) an account of the cost of the subject matter of the procurement, the project price for similar projects and details of the relevant patent, proprietary technology, etc. provided by the supplier; and

(4) the principal terms of the contract and details of the price consultations.

The record of the consultations shall be signed in acknowledgement by all of the procurement personnel. If a member of the procurement personnel has a dissenting opinion on the record, he/she shall sign a dissenting opinion and explain his/her reason. If a member of the procurement personnel refuses to sign the record and does not give an account in writing of his/her dissenting opinion and the reasons therefor, he/she shall be deemed to agree to the record.

Article 43: The purchaser or procurement agency shall terminate the procurement activities, issue a project termination announcement giving the reasons therefor and commence the procurement activities anew if:

(1) due to a change in circumstances, the project ceases to satisfy the specified circumstances where the single source procurement method is applicable;

(2) a violation of laws or regulations that affects the impartiality of procurement is committed; or

(3) the quote exceeds the procurement budget.

Part Five: Price inquiry

Article 44: The technical, service and other such requirements in the price inquiry procurement requirements shall be complete, clear and in compliance with relevant laws, administrative regulations and government procurement policies.

Article 45: The period from the date of issuance of the price inquiry notice to the deadline for the submission of the reply documents by the suppliers may not be less than three working days.

The purchaser, procurement agency or price inquiry committee may carry out the necessary clarification or revision of the issued price inquiry notice before the deadline for the submission of the reply documents, and such clarifications or revisions shall constitute an integral part of the price inquiry notice. If a clarification or revision could affect the preparation of the reply documents, the purchaser, procurement agency or price inquiry committee shall notify in writing all of the suppliers that received the price inquiry notice three working days before the deadline for the submission of the reply documents, and if there are less than three working days, the deadline for the submission of the reply documents shall be extended accordingly.

Article 46: During the course of the price inquiry, the price inquiry committee may not modify matters such as the technical, service and other such requirements, the evaluation procedure, the criteria for determining the winner or the contract text determined in the price inquiry notice.

Article 47: The suppliers participating in the price inquiry procurement activities shall quote on a single occasion a non-modifiable price in accordance with the price inquiry notice.

Article 48: The price inquiry committee shall put forward at least three candidates, presented in the order from low to high of their quotes, from among the suppliers whose quality and service can satisfy the substantive requirements of the procurement documents, and prepare the evaluation report.

Article 49: The procurement agency shall send the evaluation report to the purchaser for confirmation within two working days after conclusion of the evaluation.

The purchaser shall, within five working days after receipt of the evaluation report, determine the winning supplier from among the candidates put forward in the evaluation report based on the principles that their quality and service both can satisfy the substantive requirements of the procurement documents and of the lowest final quote or, alternatively, it may authorise the price inquiry committee in writing to directly determine the winning supplier. If the purchaser fails to determine the winning supplier within the five working days and does not raise any objections, it shall be deemed to have determined the supplier with the lowest final quote put forward in the evaluation report as the winning supplier.

Article 50: The purchaser or procurement agency shall terminate the price inquiry procurement activities, issue a project termination announcement giving the reasons therefor and commence the procurement activities anew if:

(1) due to a change in circumstances, the project ceases to satisfy the specified circumstances where the price inquiry procurement method is applicable;

(2) a violation of laws or regulations that affects the impartiality of procurement is committed; or

(3) during the course of the procurement process, the number of suppliers that satisfied the competition requirements or whose quote did not exceed the procurement budget is less than three.

Part Six: Legal liability

Article 51: If any of the following circumstances apply to a purchaser or procurement agency, it shall be ordered to rectify the matter within a specified period of time and given a warning; if a relevant law or a relevant set of administrative regulations provides for the imposition of a fine, a fine shall additionally be imposed; if a criminal offence is suspected, the case shall be transferred to the judicial authority for handling:

(1) it failed to publish the government procurement information in the designated media in accordance herewith;

(2) it failed to assemble a negotiating committee or price inquiry committee in accordance herewith;

(3) in the course of a procurement by price inquiry it conducted consultations or negotiations with suppliers;

(4) it determined the candidates by a procedure or in accordance with requirements that run contrary to those specified in the Government Procurement Law or these Measures; or

(5) it disclosed details of the evaluation, or state secrets or trade secrets to which it was privy in the course of the evaluation.

If any of the circumstances set forth above applies to a procurement agency and the circumstances thereof are serious, its government procurement agency qualifications shall be suspended for three to six months. If the circumstances are particularly serious or it failed to rectify the matter by the specified deadline, its government procurement agency qualifications shall be cancelled.

Article 52: If any of the following circumstances apply to a purchaser, it shall be ordered to rectify the matter within a specified period of time and given a warning; if a relevant law or a relevant set of administrative regulations provides for the imposition of a fine, a fine shall additionally be imposed;

(1) it adopted a procurement method other than an invitation for bids in a manner contrary to that specified in the Government Procurement Law and these Measures;

(2) it determined the winning supplier in a manner contrary to that specified in the Government Procurement Law and these Measures;

(3) it executed a government procurement contract in a manner running contrary to the matters determined in the procurement documents or it executed with the winning supplier a separate agreement that runs counter to the substantive provisions of the contract; or

(4) it failed to submit a copy of the government procurement contract to the finance department at the same level for the record in accordance with provisions.

Article 53: If any of the circumstances set forth in Article 51 or 52 hereof applies to a purchaser or procurement agency and the circumstances thereof are serious or it refuses to rectify the matter, the appointment and dismissal authority or supervision authority shall discipline in accordance with the law the senior officer directly in charge and other directly responsible persons, if they are working personnel of a state authority, and circulate a notice on the matter.

Article 54: If any of the following circumstances applies to a winning supplier, it shall be ordered to rectify the matter within a specified period of time, and if the circumstances are serious, it shall be placed on the record of improper activity list, be barred from participating in government procurement activities for one to three years, and a notice on the matter shall be circulated:

(1) it executed a government procurement contract in a manner running contrary to the matters determined in the procurement documents or it executed with the purchaser a separate agreement that runs counter to the substantive provisions of the contract;

(2) after determination of the winner, it failed to execute a contract with the purchaser without a legitimate reason; or

(3) it refused to perform its contractual obligations.

Article 55: If a member of a negotiating committee or price inquiry committee commits any of the acts set forth below, he/she shall be ordered to rectify the matter and given a warning; if a relevant law or a relevant set of administrative regulations provides for the imposition of a fine, a fine shall additionally be imposed; if a criminal offence is suspected, the case shall be transferred to the judicial authority for handling:

(1) he/she accepted property or other improper benefit from a purchaser, procurement agency, supplier or other materially interested party;

(2) he/she disclosed details of an evaluation, or state secrets or trade secrets to which he/she was privy in the course of an evaluation;

(3) he/she was well aware that he/she had a material interest in a supplier but failed to recuse himself/herself in accordance with the law;

(4) he/she abandoned his/her duties without authorisation in the course of an evaluation, thereby affecting the normal conduct of the evaluation procedure;

(5) he/she had an obvious unreasonable or improper bias during the evaluation; or

(6) he/she failed to carry out an evaluation in accordance with the criteria for determining the winner specified in the procurement documents.

If any of the circumstances set forth in the preceding paragraph applies to an evaluation expert and the circumstances thereof are serious, his/her government procurement evaluation expert qualifications shall be cancelled, he/she shall be barred from further participating in the evaluation of any government procurement project and the same shall be announced in the media designated by the finance department for the publication of government procurement information.

Article 56: If any of the violations of the law sets forth in Article 51, 52 or 55 hereof has been committed and the same has affected or could affect the determination of the winner, the same shall be handled in the following manner depending on the circumstances set forth below:

(1) if the winning supplier has not been determined, the procurement activities in question shall be terminated and procurement activities shall be commenced anew in accordance with the law;

(2) if the winning supplier has been determined but the procurement contract has not been performed, the contract shall be rescinded and another winning supplier shall be determined from among the qualified candidates, or if there is no qualified candidate, the procurement activities shall be commenced anew; or

(3) if the procurement contract has been performed, and the purchaser or a supplier was caused to incur a loss, the responsible person shall be liable for compensation in accordance with the law.

Article 57: If a party to a government procurement violates the PRC Government Procurement Law (Revised in 2014) or these Measures, causing a third party to incur a loss, such party shall bear civil liability in accordance with the relevant civil law.

Article 58: If any entity or individual illegally interferes in or affects an evaluation process or the outcome thereof, it/he/she shall be ordered to rectify the matter. If the responsible person of the entity or the individual is a member of the working personnel of a state authority, the appointment and dismissal authority or supervision authority shall discipline him/her in accordance with the law.

Article 59: If a member of the working personnel of a finance department illegally interferes in procurement activities or abuses his/her authority, is derelict in his/her duties, practises favouritism by committing fraud in the course of exercising oversight, he/she shall be disciplined in accordance with the law. If a criminal offence is suspected, the case shall be transferred to the judicial authority for handling.

Part Seven: Supplementary provisions

Article 60: For the purposes of these Measures, the term “competent budget entity” means a state authority, public institution or association that is tasked with preparation of the department's budget and submits the budget to the finance department at the same level.

Article 61: The finance department of the people's government of a province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the central government may formulate specific implementing measures based hereon.

Article 62: These Measures shall be effective as of February 1 2014.