Military ordered to buy equipment on the open market and offer non-secret projects for public bidding President Hu Jintao has ordered the military to integrate its logistical support and infrastructure projects with the wider economy to avoid wastage and overlapping, the People's Liberation Army Daily said yesterday. Military analysts said the order was aimed at stopping corruption and abuse of power in the army. The report said Mr Hu recently gave the PLA 11 rules to follow, including buying non-essential materials on the open market and allowing outside companies to bid for infrastructure projects. 'Unless they concern state secrets, military projects in sectors such as transport, power and telecommunications must be put up for public bidding,' Mr Hu said. Household materials and supplies for military personnel, including for building homes, medical services and vehicles, must be procured through the open market, the rules state. Military publications, kindergartens, elementary schools, sports organisations, and cultural and art troupes and institutions would also be phased out 'unless they have a particular military use'. No specific details of the rules' financial impact were given, but they said up to 15 per cent of military procurement spending should be 'marketised' by 2010. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Land and Resources, the Ministry of Finance and the PLA General Logistics Department have issued a joint announcement designed to stop PLA organs from selling vacant military land without approval. Under the rule, all military land sales will have to be submitted to provincial land resources offices and other related departments for further study from the end of June. The Central Military Commission recently launched an investigation into senior officers' housing to see whether they are living in accommodation that is too extravagant for their rank. The probe has been seen as part of the crackdown on military corruption. The crackdown was launched when Mr Hu took over as head of the military in September 2004. He ordered an audit of the financial status of more than 4,000 military officials, including about 100 senior officers, in order to clamp down on rampant corruption in the military. Former deputy navy commander Wang Shouyue received a suspended death sentence in April for embezzling 160 million yuan in public funds. Milton Liao Wen-chung, a Taiwanese military researcher and a Council of Advanced Policy Studies expert who specialises in the PLA, said the anti-graft campaign reflected concerns within the military commission that rampant corruption would ruin the PLA. 'The logistics part of the army is the most corrupt and rotten section,' Mr Liao said. 'However, Beijing is also scared that the army could rebel if all their privilege and benefits were forfeited.' He estimated that PLA officers' pay would be boosted by at least 20 per cent at next month's National People's Congress meeting to lift their morale.
