Judges ramp up crackdown on bid-rigging

Chinese judges have pledged to strengthen efforts on the crackdown of bidding-related crimes to foster a fair competitive market environment and bolster high-quality economic development.

The Supreme People's Court, China's top court, made the pledge with the National Development and Reform Commission while revealing criminal cases in the bidding field on Monday.

"Bidding crimes are now characterized by diverse criminal subjects, covert means and organized chains, which have disrupted the market order and damaged the legitimate interests of business entities," the top court said.

Revealing six concluded cases to the public, the court stated that they have covered multiple economic sectors such as construction, material procurement and land contracting, and also involved new criminal methods.

For example, some individuals were found to have crafted bidding parameters to favor specific bidders, making the process look legitimate but actually rigged, while some were discovered to have manipulated expert scoring and offered false data to win the bidding.

To fight against such bidding-related crimes more effectively and accurately, the top court urged all judges to conduct in-depth reviews of core evidence including tender documents, electronic data and fund flows in relevant case handling.

Additionally, it required courts nationwide to issue judicial recommendations to industry authorities, highlighting high-risk areas in the qualification review, bid evaluation rule design and electronic tendering system security.