Finance Minister Xie Xuren signed a written application on
behalf of China for joining the Agreement on Government Procurement
(GPA) on Friday.
The signing in the capital marked that the country had
officially started the process of joining the GPA, according to an
announcement posted on the Ministry of Finance website.
The Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of China to the
United Nations submitted a list on the opening of the government
procurement market to the Secretariat of the World Trade
Organization (WTO).
It required its members opened up their domestic government
procurement markets, as the GPA aimed to have the most free trade
in the global market. It currently had 40 full member countries and
regions.
The GPA, a plurilateral treaty, opens up most government
contracts of its members to international competition. Suppliers of
each GPA member had the right to participate in procedures for the
award of government contracts of other GPA members.
China became a GPA observer in 2002. The government pledged last
year to start the GPA entry negotiation process before the end of
2007.
Government procurement has a history more than 200 years in
Western countries. China only introduced this practice in 1996 and
enacted its law on government procurement into effect in 2003.
(Xinhua News Agency December 29, 2007)
