Profound changes for procurement

China is willing to work hand in hand with public procurement counterparts worldwide, uphold the right course of economic globalization and trade diversification, and pursue common development and a shared future through openness and cooperation, Vice-Minister of Finance Lin Zechang said.

Lin made the remarks at the 2026 China International Public Procurement Forum, which kicked off in Shanghai on Thursday and will run through Saturday under the theme "Sharing the Future of the Public Procurement Market — Institutional Innovation and Win-Win Cooperation".

"International public procurement is currently undergoing profound changes, with major economies and international organizations introducing systematic reform measures and exploring new paths for global public procurement governance," Lin said, noting that as the world's second-largest economy, China has a vast government procurement market.

In recent years, China has continued to deepen government procurement reform, accelerated efforts to revise the government procurement law and gradually improved the framework for the policy functions of government procurement, he added.

The country has worked to build a comprehensive legal and regulatory framework for government procurement, with clearly defined powers and responsibilities, standardized and efficient procedures, and rigorous oversight, while actively enhancing a market-oriented, law-based and internationalized business environment for government procurement, Lin said.

Other participants at the forum shared similar sentiments, calling for reforms and improvements in the international public procurement sector to better facilitate economic globalization and shared development.

HK Yu, vice-president of Asian Development Bank, said international cooperation was essential because challenges in the region are too large and too complicated for any single organization to address on its own.

"Governments, international organizations, development institutions and the private sector all have valuable experience to contribute. By learning from each other, we can turn policy innovation into practical results," said Diomedes Berroa, practice manager for prosperity-procurement in the World Bank's East Asia and Pacific region.

Berroa said the World Bank looked forward to continuing its partnership with China, sharing international experience and learning from China's innovations in public procurement.

Monale Ratsoma, vice-president and chief risk officer of the New Development Bank, said the bank, which serves the Global South, was sharing procurement practices with member countries, institutions and other stakeholders.

Ratsoma said the bank welcomed eligible enterprises offering reliable, competitive and sustainable solutions, including through partnerships across member countries.

"We have been encouraged by China's ongoing efforts in recent years to align aspects of procurement systems with internationally recognized rules, standards and practices," said Jonathan Bacon, a minister counsellor at the British embassy in Beijing.

Bacon said such reforms could make procurement more transparent and predictable, strengthen business confidence and help modernize procurement systems. He looked forward to further exchanges between the United Kingdom and China on procurement reform.

Berroa of the World Bank said public buyers should look beyond the lowest initial price and weigh performance, sustainability and resilience when assessing which bid offers the best value.

Early market engagement, proportional requirements and well-designed procurement strategies can help attract innovative and capable suppliers while preserving opportunities for smaller firms, he said.

Yu said the ADB's procurement reforms focused on quality, innovation, sustainability and local job creation. A road or transmission line may cost less to build today, she said, but could prove far more expensive if it needed more maintenance later.

CIPPF is a high-level forum on public procurement hosted by the Ministry of Finance. Three previous editions were held in 2020, 2022 and 2024, respectively. The forum has made positive contributions to facilitating supply-demand matching and win-win cooperation among government procurement regulatory departments, enterprises and international organizations, according to the ministry of finance.