Beijing: A study of Chinese government procurement shows that nearly 80 per cent of the surveyed products were purchased at amounts much higher than their market price, indicating irregularities in the procurement process.
For instance, 18 million yuan or USD 2.88 million was spent on 2,098 laptops where only 13.73 million yuan would've sufficed had they been purchased at market price, state run Xinhua news agency reported.
The survey was conducted by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in the Guangdong, Heilongjiang, Jiangxi and Fujian provinces.
The survey results released on Monday said that of 19,020 surveyed products, mainly office utilities, 15,190 were purchased at a price higher than the market rate.
China's government procurement law states that government procurement prices must be lower than the average market price.
Tian He, head of the survey team and a researcher with the CASS, said that a lack of transparency and high procurement prices would invite public suspicion.
The volume of government procurement surged from 100.9 billion yuan in 2002 to 1.13 trillion yuan in 2011, according to the survey.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, February 26, 2013, 00:11
