China's 2017 government procurement up 24.8%

BEIJING - China's government procurement jumped 24.8 percent year-on-year to 3.21 trillion yuan ($467.6 billion) in 2017, official data showed.

The figure is equivalent to 12.2 percent of the country's fiscal expenditures, or 3.9 percent of GDP, according to the Ministry of Finance (MOF).

Both percentages rose from a year ago. The growth rate for government procurement in 2016 was 22.1 percent.

Procurement of goods, construction and services accounted for 24.9 percent, 47.4 percent and 27.7 percent, respectively.

Procurement of services surged 83.1 percent to 890 billion yuan, exceeding procurement of goods for the first time. The government is buying more services not only for its own need but also the public.

Government procurement last year continued to prioritize energy-saving and environmentally friendly products and favored small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), said the ministry.

In 2017, 77.4 percent of government procurement contracts went to SMEs, said the MOF.