Decree No. 74 of the Ministry of Finance of the People's Republic of China "Administrative Measures on Non-Tendering Procurement of Government Procurement"

Ministry of Finance of the People's Republic of China

Ministry of Finance Order 74

The Administrative Measures for Non-Tendering Procurement of Government Procurement have been deliberated and adopted at the Ministry of Finance Meeting on October 28, 2013, and are hereby promulgated and shall come into force as of February 1, 2014.

　　Minister Lou Jiwei

December 19, 2013

Measures for the administration of non-tendering procurement for government procurement

Chapter 1 General provisions

Article 1 In order to regulate government procurement behavior, strengthen the supervision and management of procurement activities using non tender procurement methods, safeguard national interests, social public interests, and the legitimate rights and interests of government procurement parties, this method is formulated in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Government Procurement Law of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the Government Procurement Law) and other laws and administrative regulations.

Article 2 If the purchaser or procurement agency purchases goods, projects, and services through non tender procurement methods, these Measures shall apply.

The non bidding procurement method referred to in these measures refers to competitive negotiation, single source procurement, and inquiry procurement methods.

Competitive negotiation refers to the negotiation between a negotiation team and qualified suppliers regarding the procurement of goods, engineering, and services. The suppliers submit response documents and final quotations according to the requirements of the negotiation documents, and the purchaser determines the procurement method of the successful supplier from the candidates proposed by the negotiation team.

Single source procurement refers to the procurement method in which the purchaser purchases goods, engineering, and services from a specific supplier.

Inquiry refers to the inquiry team issuing a procurement inquiry notice to qualified suppliers, requiring them to quote a price that cannot be changed at once. The purchaser determines the procurement method of the successful supplier from the candidates proposed by the inquiry team.

Article 3 If the purchaser or procurement agency purchases any of the following goods, projects, or services, they may use competitive negotiation or single source procurement methods for procurement; For purchasing goods, the inquiry procurement method can also be used:

（1） Goods and services within the centralized procurement catalog formulated in accordance with the law and not meeting the standard for open bidding amount;

（2） Goods and services that are not included in the centralized procurement catalog formulated in accordance with the law, exceed the procurement quota standard, and do not meet the public bidding amount standard;

（3） Goods and services that meet the standard for open bidding amount and have been approved to use non-public bidding methods;

（4） Government procurement projects other than construction projects that must be tendered according to the Tendering and Bidding Law and its implementation regulations.

Chapter 2 General provisions

Article 4 For procurement projects of goods and services that meet the standard of open bidding amount and intend to use non bidding procurement methods, the purchaser shall apply for approval from the financial department of the people's government at or above the level of a city divided into districts or autonomous prefecture with the consent of the competent budget unit before the procurement activity begins.

Article 5 In accordance with Article 4 of these Measures, if an application is made for non tender procurement, the purchaser shall submit the following materials to the financial department and be responsible for the authenticity of the materials:

（1） Explanation of basic project information such as purchaser's name, procurement project name, and project overview;

（2） Project budget amount, budget approval documents, or proof of funding sources;

（3） Proposed procurement method and reasons for application.

Article 6 The purchaser and procurement agency shall organize and carry out non tender procurement activities in accordance with the provisions of the Government Procurement Law and these Measures, and take necessary measures to ensure that the evaluation is conducted in strict confidentiality.

No unit or individual shall illegally interfere with or influence the evaluation process and results.

Article 7 The competitive negotiation group or inquiry group shall consist of an odd number of three or more representatives from the purchaser and evaluation experts, among whom the number of evaluation experts shall not be less than two-thirds of the total number of members of the competitive negotiation group or inquiry group. The purchaser shall not participate in the evaluation of procurement projects in their department or unit as an expert reviewer. Personnel from procurement agencies are not allowed to participate in the evaluation of procurement projects represented by the agency.

For procurement projects of goods or services that meet the standard of open bidding amount, or for government procurement projects that meet the standard of bidding scale, the competitive negotiation group or inquiry group shall consist of an odd number of at least 5 people.

For government procurement projects that use competitive negotiation and inquiry methods for procurement, the evaluation experts should be randomly selected from the list of experts in relevant fields in the government procurement evaluation expert database. For competitive negotiation procurement projects with complex technology and strong professionalism, if it is difficult to determine suitable evaluation experts through random methods, with the consent of the competent budget unit, evaluation experts can be selected on their own. For competitive negotiation procurement projects with complex technology and strong professionalism, one legal expert should be included in the evaluation experts.

Article 8 Competitive negotiation teams or inquiry teams shall perform the following duties during the procurement process:

（1） Confirm or develop negotiation documents and inquiry notices;

（2） Select no less than 3 suppliers from the list of qualified suppliers to participate in negotiations or inquiries;

（3） Review the supplier's response documents and make an evaluation;

（4） Request suppliers to explain or clarify their response documents;

（5） Write a review report;

（6） Notify the purchaser and procurement agency of any illegal or irregular behavior discovered by the supplier during the evaluation process.

Article 9 Members of competitive negotiation or inquiry teams shall fulfill the following obligations:

（1） Comply with laws and regulations, objectively, fairly, and honestly fulfill duties;

（2） Independently conduct evaluations according to the procurement documents and bear legal responsibility for individual evaluation opinions;

（3） Participate in the drafting of the review report;

（4） Cooperate with the purchaser and procurement agency to respond to the supplier's queries;

（5） Cooperate with the finance department in handling complaints and conducting supervision and inspection work.

Article 10 Negotiation documents and inquiry notices shall be formulated based on the characteristics of the procurement project and the actual needs of the purchaser, and shall be approved in writing by the purchaser. The purchaser shall adhere to the principle of meeting actual needs and shall not arbitrarily increase procurement standards such as budget and asset allocation.

Negotiation documents and inquiry notices shall not require or indicate the name of the supplier or the brand of specific goods, and shall not contain technical, service, or other conditions directed towards specific suppliers.

Article 11 Negotiation documents and inquiry notices shall include supplier qualification conditions, procurement invitation, procurement method, procurement budget, procurement requirements, procurement procedures, price composition or quotation requirements, response document preparation requirements, deadline and location for submitting response documents, amount and form of deposit payment, and standards for evaluating the transaction.

In addition to the content specified in the first paragraph of this article, the negotiation document should also specify the content that the negotiation team may substantially change based on the negotiation situation with the supplier, including the technical and service requirements in the procurement requirements and the terms of the contract draft.

Article 12 The purchaser and procurement agency shall invite no less than three qualified suppliers to participate in competitive negotiations or inquiry procurement activities by issuing notices, randomly selecting suppliers from the supplier database established by the finance department at or above the provincial level, or through written recommendations from the purchaser and evaluation experts.

Suppliers who meet the conditions stipulated in Article 22, Paragraph 1 of the Government Procurement Law may join the supplier database before the procurement activities begin. The finance department shall not charge any fees for suppliers to apply for warehouse entry, and shall not use the supplier warehouse for regional and industry blockade.

If a supplier is selected through written recommendations from the purchaser and evaluation experts, the purchaser and evaluation experts shall each provide written recommendations. The proportion of recommended suppliers by the purchaser shall not exceed 50% of the total number of recommended suppliers.

Article 13 Suppliers shall prepare response documents in accordance with the requirements of negotiation documents and inquiry notices, and shall bear legal responsibility for the authenticity and legality of the response documents submitted by them.

Article 14 The purchaser and procurement agency may require the supplier to pay a security deposit before the deadline for submitting response documents. The deposit shall be paid in non cash forms such as checks, drafts, promissory notes, online banking payments, or guarantees issued by financial institutions or guarantee agencies. The amount of the security deposit should not exceed 2% of the procurement project budget.

If the supplier is a consortium, one or more parties in the consortium can jointly pay a deposit, and the deposit paid by them is binding on all parties in the consortium.

Article 15 Suppliers shall seal and deliver the response documents to the designated location before the deadline specified in the negotiation documents and inquiry notices. Response documents delivered after the deadline shall be deemed invalid and shall be rejected by the purchaser, procurement agency, negotiation team, or inquiry team.

Suppliers may supplement, modify or withdraw the submitted response documents before the deadline for submitting inquiry response documents, and notify the purchaser and procurement agency in writing. The supplementary and modified content shall be an integral part of the response document. If the supplemented or modified content is inconsistent with the response document, the supplemented or modified content shall prevail.

Article 16 When reviewing the validity, completeness, and responsiveness of response documents, negotiation and inquiry teams may request suppliers to provide necessary clarifications, explanations, or corrections regarding unclear meanings, inconsistent expressions of similar issues, or obvious textual and computational errors in the response documents. The supplier's clarification, explanation or correction shall not exceed the scope of the response document or change the substantive content of the response document.

The negotiation team and inquiry team require suppliers to clarify, explain or correct their response documents in writing. The clarification, explanation or correction of the supplier shall be signed or stamped with the official seal by the legal representative or its authorized representative. If signed by an authorized representative, a letter of authorization from the legal representative shall be attached. If the supplier is a natural person, they should sign and attach their identification.　

Article 17 The negotiation team and inquiry team shall prepare an evaluation report based on the evaluation records and results, which mainly includes:

（1） The specific methods and relevant information for inviting suppliers to participate in procurement activities, as well as the list of suppliers participating in procurement activities;

（2） Review date and location, list of members of negotiation and inquiry teams;

（3） Record and explain the evaluation situation, including the qualification review of suppliers, the evaluation of supplier response documents, negotiation, quotation, etc;

（4） List and reasons for the proposed candidates for the transaction.

The review report should be signed and approved by all members of the negotiation and inquiry teams. If members of the negotiation and inquiry teams have objections to the evaluation report, the negotiation and inquiry teams shall recommend candidates for the transaction based on the principle of minority obeying majority, and the procurement process shall continue. Members of the negotiation and inquiry teams who have objections to the review report shall sign their dissenting opinions on the report and explain the reasons, and the negotiation and inquiry teams shall record the relevant information in writing. If members of the negotiation and inquiry teams refuse to sign the report without providing written explanations of their differing opinions and reasons, it shall be deemed that they agree to the review report.

Article 18 The purchaser or procurement agency shall announce the transaction results on the media designated by the financial department at or above the provincial level within 2 working days after the successful supplier is determined. At the same time, a transaction notification shall be issued to the successful supplier, and competitive negotiation documents and inquiry notices shall be announced together with the transaction results. The announcement of transaction results shall include the following contents:

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

（2） Project name and project number;

（3） Name, address, and transaction amount of the supplier involved in the transaction;

（4） The name, specifications, quantity, unit price, and service requirements of the main transaction targets;

（5） List of members of the negotiation team, inquiry team, and single source procurement personnel.

If a supplier is recommended in writing to participate in procurement activities, the recommendation opinions of the purchaser and the evaluation experts should also be announced.

Article 19 The purchaser and the successful supplier shall sign a government procurement contract within 30 days from the date of issuance of the transaction notice, in accordance with the contract text determined in the procurement documents, as well as the procurement subject matter, specifications and models, procurement amount, procurement quantity, technical and service requirements, and other matters.

The purchaser shall not make any requirements beyond the scope of the procurement documents to the successful supplier as a condition for signing the contract, and shall not enter into any agreement with the successful supplier that deviates from the contract text determined in the procurement documents, as well as the substantive content of the procurement subject matter, specifications and models, procurement amount, procurement quantity, technical and service requirements, etc.

Article 20 The purchaser or procurement agency shall promptly return the supplier's security deposit after the procurement activity is completed, except for cases where the supplier is unable to return it in a timely manner due to their own reasons. The security deposit of unsuccessful suppliers shall be refunded within 5 working days after the issuance of the transaction notice, and the security deposit of successful suppliers shall be refunded within 5 working days after the signing of the procurement contract.

In any of the following circumstances, the deposit will not be refunded:

（1） The supplier withdraws the response document after the deadline for submission;

（2） Suppliers providing false materials in response documents;

（3） Except for force majeure or situations recognized in negotiation documents or inquiry notices, the successful supplier does not sign a contract with the purchaser;

（4） Malicious collusion between suppliers and purchasers, other suppliers, or procurement agencies;

（5） Other circumstances specified in the procurement documents.

Article 21 Except for errors in qualification review and price calculation, the purchaser or procurement agency shall not organize a re evaluation for any reason. If the purchaser or procurement agency discovers that the negotiation team or inquiry team has not evaluated the transaction according to the evaluation criteria specified in the procurement documents, they shall restart the procurement activities and report in writing to the local finance department at the same time.

Article 22 Except for force majeure and other factors, if the purchaser changes the transaction result or the supplier refuses to sign the government procurement contract after the issuance of the transaction notice, they shall bear corresponding legal responsibilities.

If the successful supplier refuses to sign the government procurement contract, the purchaser may determine other suppliers as successful suppliers and sign the government procurement contract in accordance with the principles stipulated in Article 36 (2) and Article 49 (2) of these Measures, or may restart the procurement activities. Suppliers who refuse to sign government procurement contracts are not allowed to participate in the procurement activities for the project that have been restarted.

Article 23 If the procurement task is cancelled due to major changes in the procurement activity, the purchaser or procurement agency shall terminate the procurement activity, notify all participating suppliers, and report the project implementation situation and the reasons for the cancellation of the procurement task to the local finance department.

Article 24 The purchaser or procurement agency shall organize the acceptance of supplier performance in accordance with the technical, service, and other requirements stipulated in the procurement contract, and issue an acceptance certificate. The acceptance certificate should include the performance of each technical, service, and other requirements. Large or complex projects should invite nationally recognized quality inspection agencies to participate in acceptance. The members of the acceptance party shall sign the acceptance certificate and bear corresponding legal responsibilities.

Article 25 Members of the negotiation team, inquiry team, and personnel related to the evaluation work shall not disclose the evaluation situation or any state secrets or commercial secrets obtained during the evaluation process.

Article 26 The purchaser and procurement agency shall properly keep the procurement documents for each procurement activity. The procurement documents include procurement activity records, procurement budgets, negotiation documents, inquiry notices, response documents, opinions of recommended suppliers, evaluation reports, confirmation documents of successful suppliers, records of single source procurement negotiations, contract texts, acceptance certificates, questioning responses, complaint handling decisions, and other relevant documents and materials. Procurement documents can be saved in electronic file format.

The procurement activity record shall at least include the following contents:

（1） Procurement project category and name;

（2） Procurement project budget, funding structure, and contract price;

（3） Procurement method, reasons for adopting this method, and relevant explanatory materials;

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

（5） The criteria for evaluating the transaction and the reasons for determining the supplier for the transaction;

（6） Reasons for termination of procurement activities.

Chapter 3 Competitive negotiation

Article 27 Procurement projects that meet one of the following conditions may be procured through competitive negotiation:

（1） If there are no suppliers bidding or no qualified bids after the bidding, or if the re bidding fails to establish;

（2） Technical complexity or special nature that makes it impossible to determine detailed specifications or specific requirements;

（3） Due to unforeseeable reasons or delays by non purchasers, the time required for bidding cannot meet the urgent needs of users;

（4） The total price cannot be calculated in advance due to reasons such as uncertainty in the time and quantity of art procurement, patents, proprietary technology, or services.

When there are only two suppliers who submit bidding documents or substantially respond to the requirements of the bidding documents during the bidding process for the procurement of goods and services through public bidding, the purchaser and procurement agency may conduct competitive negotiation procurement with these two suppliers after approval by the local financial department in accordance with Article 4 of these Measures. The purchaser and procurement agency shall prepare negotiation documents based on the procurement requirements in the bidding documents, establish a negotiation team, and have the negotiation team confirm the negotiation documents. If it meets the requirements of this clause, the minimum number of suppliers specified in Article 33 and Article 35 of these Measures may be two.

Article 28 When applying for the use of competitive negotiation procurement in accordance with the circumstances specified in Article 27, Paragraph 1, Item 1 and Paragraph 2 of these Measures, in addition to submitting the materials specified in Article 5, Items 1 to 3 of these Measures, the following application materials shall also be submitted:

（1） Proof materials for publishing bidding notices on media designated by the finance department at or above the provincial level;

（2） Explanation issued by the purchaser and procurement agency on whether there are any supplier queries and their handling in the bidding documents and bidding process;

（3） The bidding documents issued by the evaluation committee or three or more evaluation experts do not have any unreasonable clauses in the argumentation opinions.

Article 29 The period from the date of issuance of the negotiation document to the deadline for submission of the first response document by the supplier shall not be less than 3 working days.

Before the deadline for submitting the first response document, the purchaser, procurement agency, or negotiation team may make necessary clarifications or modifications to the already issued negotiation document, and the clarified or modified content shall be an integral part of the negotiation document. If the clarification or modification may affect the preparation of the response document, the purchaser, procurement agency or negotiation team shall notify all suppliers who have received the negotiation document in writing three working days before the deadline for submitting the first response document. If the deadline is less than three working days, the deadline for submitting the first response document shall be postponed accordingly.

Article 30 The negotiation team shall review the response documents and negotiate with suppliers who substantially respond to the requirements of the negotiation documents in accordance with the procedures and evaluation criteria specified in the negotiation documents. Response documents that do not substantially respond to the negotiation documents shall be treated as invalid, and the negotiation team shall inform the relevant suppliers.

Article 31 All members of the negotiation team shall conduct separate negotiations with a single supplier and provide equal negotiation opportunities to all participating suppliers.

Article 32 During the negotiation process, the negotiation team may substantially change the technical and service requirements in the procurement requirements, as well as the terms of the contract draft, based on the negotiation documents and negotiation situation, but shall not change other contents in the negotiation documents. The content of substantive changes must be confirmed by the representative of the purchaser.

The substantive changes made to the negotiation document are an effective part of the negotiation document, and the negotiation team should promptly notify all participating suppliers in writing.

Suppliers shall resubmit response documents in accordance with the changes in the negotiation documents and the requirements of the negotiation team, and have them signed or stamped by their legal representative or authorized representative. If signed by an authorized representative, a letter of authorization from the legal representative shall be attached. If the supplier is a natural person, they should sign and attach their identification.

Article 33 If the negotiation documents can specify in detail the technical and service requirements of the procurement subject matter, after the negotiation is completed, the negotiation team shall require all suppliers who continue to participate in the negotiation to submit their final quotations within the prescribed time, and no less than three suppliers shall submit their final quotations.

If the negotiation document cannot specify the technical and service requirements of the procurement subject matter in detail, and the final design or solution needs to be provided by the supplier through negotiation, the negotiation team should vote on the design or solution of three or more suppliers based on the principle of minority obeying majority after the negotiation is completed, and require them to submit the final quotation within the specified time.

The final quotation is an effective component of the supplier's response document.

Article 34 Suppliers who have submitted response documents may withdraw from negotiations based on the negotiation situation before submitting the final quotation. The purchaser and procurement agency shall refund the security deposit of the supplier who withdraws from the negotiation.

Article 35 The negotiation team shall select three or more candidates from suppliers who meet the substantive response requirements of the procurement documents in terms of quality and service, and prepare an evaluation report in descending order of the final quotation.

Article 36 The procurement agency shall submit the evaluation report to the purchaser for confirmation within 2 working days after the evaluation is completed.

The purchaser shall, within 5 working days after receiving the evaluation report, determine the successful supplier from the candidates proposed in the evaluation report based on the principle that both quality and service can meet the substantive response requirements of the procurement documents and the final quotation is the lowest. The purchaser may also authorize the negotiation team in writing to directly determine the successful supplier. If the purchaser fails to determine the successful supplier within the prescribed time and does not raise any objections, it shall be deemed that the supplier with the lowest final quotation proposed in the evaluation report has been determined as the successful supplier.

Article 37 In any of the following circumstances, the purchaser or procurement agency shall terminate the competitive negotiation procurement activity, issue a project termination announcement and explain the reasons, and restart the procurement activity:

（1） Due to changes in circumstances, the application of competitive negotiation procurement methods that no longer comply with regulations;

（2） Any illegal or irregular behavior that affects the fairness of procurement;

（3） If there are less than three suppliers who meet the competitive requirements or whose quotations do not exceed the procurement budget during the procurement process, except for the circumstances stipulated in Article 27, paragraph 2 of these Measures.

Chapter 4 Single source procurement

Article 38 For goods and services projects that fall under the circumstances of Article 31, Paragraph 1 of the Government Procurement Law and reach the public bidding amount, and intend to use a single source procurement method, the purchaser and procurement agency shall, before reporting to the financial department for approval in accordance with Article 4 of these Measures, publicize them on the media designated by the financial department at or above the provincial level, and report the publicity situation to the financial department together. The public notice period shall not be less than 5 working days, and the public notice content shall include:

（1） The purchaser, the name and content of the procurement project;

（2） Description of the goods or services to be purchased;

（3） Reasons and related explanations for adopting a single source procurement method;

（4） Proposed unique supplier name and address;

（5） Specific opinions from professionals regarding the uniqueness of relevant suppliers due to patents, proprietary technologies, and other reasons, as well as the names, work units, and professional titles of the professionals;

（6） The deadline for public announcement;

（7） The contact addresses, contacts, and phone numbers of the purchaser, procurement agency, and finance department.

Article 39 If any supplier, unit, or individual has objections to the use of a single source procurement method for public disclosure, they may provide written feedback to the purchaser or procurement agency during the public disclosure period, and copy the relevant financial department at the same time.

Article 40 Upon receiving objections to the use of a single source procurement method for public disclosure, the purchaser or procurement agency shall, within 5 working days after the expiration of the public disclosure period, organize supplementary argumentation. If the objection is deemed valid after argumentation, other procurement methods shall be adopted in accordance with the law; If the objection is deemed unfounded after argumentation, the dissenting opinion, argumentation opinion, and public disclosure should be reported to the relevant financial department together.

The purchaser and procurement agency shall inform the supplier, unit or individual who raises objections of the conclusion of the supplementary argument.

Article 41 For procurement using a single source procurement method, the purchaser and procurement agency shall organize experienced professionals to negotiate a reasonable transaction price with the supplier and ensure the quality of the procurement project.

Article 42 Single source procurement personnel shall prepare negotiation records, which mainly include:

（1） According to Article 38 of these Measures for public disclosure, an explanation of the disclosure situation shall be provided;

（2） Negotiation date and location, list of procurement personnel;

（3） Explanation of the cost of the procurement subject provided by the supplier, contract prices for similar projects, and relevant patents, proprietary technologies, etc;

（4） Main terms and price negotiation of the contract.

The negotiation record shall be signed and approved by all procurement personnel. Purchasing personnel who have objections to the records should sign a dissenting opinion and explain the reasons. If the procurement personnel refuse to sign on the record without providing written explanation of their different opinions and reasons, it shall be deemed as agreement.

Article 43 If any of the following situations occur, the purchaser or procurement agency shall terminate the procurement activity, issue a project termination notice and explain the reasons, and resume the procurement activity:

（1） Due to changes in circumstances, the single source procurement method that no longer meets the requirements is no longer applicable;

（2） Any illegal or irregular behavior that affects the fairness of procurement;

（3） The quotation exceeds the procurement budget.

Chapter 5 Inquiry price

Article 44 The technical and service requirements in the inquiry procurement demand 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 inquiry notice to the deadline for suppliers to submit response documents shall not be less than 3 working days.

Before the deadline for submitting response documents, the purchaser, procurement agency, or inquiry team may make necessary clarifications or modifications to the already issued inquiry notice, and the clarified or modified content shall be an integral part of the inquiry notice. If the clarification or modification may affect the preparation of the response document, the purchaser, procurement agency, or inquiry team shall notify all suppliers who have received the inquiry notice in writing three working days before the deadline for submitting the response document. If the deadline is less than three working days, the deadline for submitting the response document shall be postponed accordingly.

Article 46 During the inquiry process, the inquiry team shall not change the technical and service requirements, evaluation procedures, criteria for evaluating transactions, and contract texts determined in the inquiry notice.

Article 47 Suppliers participating in inquiry procurement activities shall quote prices that cannot be changed at once in accordance with the provisions of the inquiry notice.

Article 48 The inquiry team shall select three or more candidates for transaction from suppliers who can meet the substantive response requirements of the procurement documents in terms of both quality and service, in order of quotation from low to high, and prepare an evaluation report.

Article 49 The procurement agency shall submit the evaluation report to the purchaser for confirmation within 2 working days after the evaluation is completed.

The purchaser shall, within 5 working days after receiving the evaluation report, determine the successful supplier from the candidates proposed in the evaluation report based on the principle that both quality and service can meet the substantive response requirements of the procurement documents and the lowest quotation. The purchaser may also authorize the inquiry team in writing to directly determine the successful supplier. If the purchaser fails to determine the successful supplier within the prescribed time and does not raise any objections, it shall be deemed that the supplier with the lowest final quotation proposed in the evaluation report has been determined as the successful supplier.

Article 50 In any of the following circumstances, the purchaser or procurement agency shall terminate the inquiry procurement activity, issue a project termination announcement and explain the reasons, and restart the procurement activity:

（1） Due to changes in circumstances, the applicable situation of the inquiry procurement method no longer meets the regulations;

（2） Any illegal or irregular behavior that affects the fairness of procurement;

（3） During the procurement process, there are less than three suppliers who meet the competitive requirements or whose quotations do not exceed the procurement budget.

Chapter 6 Legal liability

Article 51 If the purchaser or procurement agency falls under any of the following circumstances, it shall be ordered to make corrections within a specified period of time and given a warning; If fines are imposed according to relevant laws and administrative regulations, they shall also be imposed; Those suspected of committing crimes shall be transferred to judicial organs for handling in accordance with the law:

（1） Failure to publish government procurement information on designated media in accordance with the provisions of these Measures;

（2） Failure to form negotiation or inquiry teams in accordance with the provisions of these measures;

（3） Negotiating with suppliers during the inquiry and procurement process;

（4） Failure to determine the candidate for the transaction in accordance with the procedures and requirements stipulated in the Government Procurement Law and these Measures;

（5） Disclosing the review situation and any state secrets or trade secrets obtained during the review process.

If a procurement agency falls under any of the circumstances mentioned in the preceding paragraph and the circumstances are serious, its qualification as a government procurement agency shall be suspended for 3 to 6 months; If the circumstances are particularly serious or if the correction is not made within the prescribed time, the qualification of the government procurement agency shall be cancelled.

Article 52 If the purchaser falls under any of the following circumstances, it shall be ordered to make corrections within a specified period of time and given a warning; If fines are imposed according to relevant laws and administrative regulations, they shall also be imposed:

（1） Failure to adopt non tender procurement methods in accordance with the provisions of the Government Procurement Law and these Measures;

（2） Failure to determine the successful supplier in accordance with the provisions of the Government Procurement Law and these Measures;

（3） Failure to sign a government procurement contract in accordance with the matters determined in the procurement documents, or to enter into a separate agreement with the successful supplier that deviates from the substantive content of the contract;

（4） Failure to submit a copy of the government procurement contract to the local finance department for filing as required.

Article 53 If the purchaser or procurement agency falls under any of the circumstances stipulated in Articles 51 and 52 of these Measures, and the circumstances are serious or refuse to correct, and the directly responsible person in charge and other directly responsible personnel are state organ staff, they shall be punished by the appointment and removal authority or the supervisory authority in accordance with the law and notified.

Article 54 If a successful supplier falls under any of the following circumstances, it shall be ordered to make corrections within a specified period of time. If the circumstances are serious, it shall be included in the list of bad behavior records, prohibited from participating in government procurement activities for 1 to 3 years, and notified:

（1） Failure to sign a government procurement contract in accordance with the matters determined in the procurement documents, or to enter into a separate agreement with the purchaser that deviates from the substantive content of the contract;

（2） Failure to sign a contract with the purchaser without justifiable reasons after the transaction;

（3） Refusing to fulfill contractual obligations.

Article 55 If any member of the negotiation team or inquiry team engages in any of the following behaviors, they shall be ordered to rectify and given a warning; If fines are imposed according to relevant laws and administrative regulations, they shall also be imposed; Those suspected of committing crimes shall be transferred to judicial organs for handling in accordance with the law:

（1） Accepting property or other improper benefits from purchasers, procurement agencies, suppliers, or other interested parties;

（2） Disclosing the review situation and any state secrets or trade secrets obtained during the review process;

（3） Those who knowingly have a vested interest in the supplier but fail to recuse themselves in accordance with the law;

（4） Leaving one's post without permission during the review process, which affects the normal progress of the review process;

（5） Having obvious unreasonable or improper tendencies during the evaluation process;

（6） Failure to evaluate the transaction according to the evaluation criteria specified in the procurement documents.

If the evaluation expert falls under any of the circumstances mentioned in the preceding paragraph, and the circumstances are serious, their qualification as a government procurement evaluation expert shall be cancelled, and they shall not participate in the evaluation of any government procurement projects again. They shall be announced on the government procurement information release media designated by the finance department.

Article 56 If any of the illegal acts in Articles 51, 52, or 55 of these Measures is committed and affects or may affect the transaction results, the following situations shall be handled separately:

（1） If the supplier for the transaction has not been determined, the current procurement activity shall be terminated and the procurement activity shall be resumed in accordance with the law;

（2） If the successful supplier has been determined but the procurement contract has not been fulfilled, the contract shall be revoked and a new successful supplier shall be determined from qualified candidates. If there are no qualified candidates, the procurement activity shall be restarted;

（3） If the procurement contract has been fulfilled and causes losses to the purchaser or supplier, the responsible person shall bear the liability for compensation in accordance with the law.

Article 57 If a party involved in government procurement violates the provisions of the Government Procurement Law and these Measures and causes losses to others, they shall bear civil liability in accordance with relevant civil laws and regulations.

Article 58 Any unit or individual who illegally interferes with or affects the evaluation process or results shall be ordered to make corrections; If the responsible person or individual of the unit belongs to a state organ staff member, they shall be punished by the appointment and removal authority or the supervisory authority in accordance with the law.

Article 59 Financial department staff who illegally intervene in procurement activities or abuse their power, neglect their duties, or engage in favoritism and fraud during the implementation of supervision and management shall be punished in accordance with the law; Those suspected of committing crimes shall be transferred to judicial authorities for handling in accordance with the law.

Chapter 7 Supplementary Provisions

Article 60 The competent budget unit referred to in these Measures refers to the state organs, institutions, and organizations responsible for preparing departmental budgets and submitting budgets to the same level of financial departments.

Article 61 The financial departments of the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government may formulate specific implementation measures in accordance with these Measures.

Article 62 These Measures shall come into effect on February 1, 2014.