Beijing - Bidders for public procurement and construction projects in the capital's Chaoyang district must have no record of involvement in bribery to win contracts.

Bidding documents must include a certificate issued by procuratorial authorities showing the bidding organization and its chief manager have committed no crimes in recent years.

Since the district government adopted the policy on March 9, about 70 companies bidding for 20 projects have received the certificate as all were found to have not committed any bribery offense, said Song Ruimin, a procurator with the crime prevention department of the district procuratorate.

The measure aims to maintain the integrity and transparency of public procurement, and to prevent corruption and unfair competition in publicly financed projects, Song said.

Chaoyang's procuratorate can access most records of past bribery offenses across China through the procuratorial network. It has called for government agencies elsewhere to introduce the same requirement into their public procurement processes, Song added.

Cao Jianfeng, an employee at Chaoyang's activities center for children and youths, said bidders' integrity records gave double reassurance that projects would be completed properly.

"The requirement works as a pre-screening of reliable suppliers before formal bidding," he said.

"In a recent procurement for equipment for a digital reading room, we had two bidders, both with a clean record. We chose one supplier based on its credibility and previous performances."

A Beijing firm dealing in electronic products won the bid. Huang Tao, the company's representative in Chaoyang district, said procedures to produce the required certificates are running smoothly. Procuratorial authorities usually have the certificate ready in three workdays. The policy ensures fair competition for businesses and requires accountability in the use of public funds, Huang said.

He said the practice was adopted in business circles four or five years ago, and Chaoyang district has made it an official policy.

Lin Zhe, a professor and anti-corruption expert with the Party School of the Central Committee of Communist Party of China, said the policy deserved to spread to more districts in Beijing and other parts of the country.

"But the idea was not the Chaoyang government's own creation," Lin said. "During the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, bidders for construction projects with any record of bribery activity were vetoed."

However, she cautioned that procuratorial departments should stay vigilant against buy-offs as some bidders may bribe the certifiers to clear their tainted records.

China Daily

(China Daily 06/23/2011 page8)