China’s rocket force bans nearly 200 suppliers, evaluators after corruption investigation
Partnerships terminated as investigators find cases of errors, collusive bidding and forgery dating back to 2016
The official China Government Procurement News reported on Tuesday that between August 28 and September 1, the rocket force made announcements on the military procurement network, banning 74 bid evaluation experts and 116 suppliers.
Some suppliers and experts were banned from rocket force procurement projects, while others were stripped of qualifications that had entitled them to bid for projects across the entire PLA.
According to the report, the earliest violation identified was in 2016, when an expert was disqualified from bidding in procurement tenders because of “errors in the project review”.
The rocket force was established in December 2015 as part of President Xi Jinping’s military reforms. The branch oversees some of the PLA’s most important assets, including China’s strategic nuclear missiles.