The recent announcement from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) military revealed that Xi’an University of Technology, Xi’an Jiaotong University, and Southwest Jiaotong University have been banned from participating in its procurement activities for three years due to “collusion and bid rigging.” All three public universities are related to military research and development, with Xi’an University of Technology being one of the “National Defense Seven Sons.” Last year, the CCP announced a crackdown on corrupt equipment procurement, resulting in a significant number of senior military leaders from the Equipment Department and Rocket Army being removed from their positions.
According to mainland media Future Net, the CCP’s military procurement website published a “dishonesty handling announcement” for the three universities on the evening of the 16th. Xi’an University of Technology was banned for “collusion and bid rigging,” while Xi’an Jiaotong University and Southwest Jiaotong University were banned for “collusion in bidding.” All three universities are prohibited from participating in the Rocket Army’s procurement activities for all product categories for a period of three years.
The start date for the prohibition of procurement for the three universities was August 16, 2024, with the end date set as August 16, 2027. The unit responsible for issuing the ban is the Procurement Supply Bureau of the Rocket Army Logistics Department.
Public records show that Xi’an University of Technology was formerly a military industrial school and is one of the so-called “National Defense Seven Sons,” with a College of Weapons Science and Technology. Xi’an Jiaotong University is a key national university directly under the CCP Ministry of Education, jointly built by the Ministry of Education, Shaanxi Province, and the CCP National Defense Science and Technology Industry Bureau, offering relevant military specialties such as aircraft design and engineering, nuclear engineering, and nuclear technology. Southwest Jiaotong University in Chengdu, Sichuan, is also a key university directly under the CCP Ministry of Education, with a College of Aerospace Engineering.
It is worth noting that Xi’an University of Technology has been sanctioned by the United States.
On July 26, 2023, the CCP Equipment Development Department issued a notice soliciting information on “violations and disciplinary issues” of experts during equipment procurement bidding evaluations since October 2017.
Since 2023, a large number of senior leaders from the Rocket Army and the equipment procurement department of the CCP have been removed from their positions. This includes former Defense Ministers Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu, as well as Rocket Army Commander Li Yuchao, Chief of Staff Sun Jinming, and many other senior military leaders and executives of military-industrial enterprises.
Of note is that in the extensive purges of the Rocket Army, the Equipment Department, and the military-industrial system, many individuals involved in incidents had direct working relationships with current Vice Chairman of the Military Commission, Zhang Youxia, in the Equipment Department (and the Equipment Development Department of the Military Commission after the military reform) period from October 2012 to August 2017.
The punishment of the aforementioned three universities for Rocket Army procurement has sparked discussions on an international platform:
“Isn’t bid rigging common practice in the industry? This is because there are new leaders who need to restart accepting bribes. Everything starts over.”
“Oops, now our ugly family business has been exposed online.”
“There must be billions of corruption cases behind this.”
“It’s not surprising that there’s bid rigging in military procurement, what’s surprising is how someone managed to uncover it.”
“Someone picked the wrong side.”