Shanghai, the biggest city in China, reported a 57 percent year-on-year increase in government procurement spending during the first 10 months of this year to 4.6 billion yuan (US$560 million).
Officials with the Shanghai Municipal government said that government procurement through public bidding saved the municipality 435 million yuan (US$53 million), up 99 percent over the same period in 2001.
Procurement expenditure by local district governments accounted for 62.3 percent of the total for Shanghai.
The boomtown of Pudong New District ranks highest of the 10 districts in the city of Shanghai in the amount of procurement spending.
It purchased 698 million yuan (US$85 million) worth of goods and services, or 15 percent of the total.
(Xinhua News Agency December 6, 2002)
