Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei on Thursday refuted a report accusing China's governmental procurement of partiality and lacking transparency.

"China's governmental procurement always abides by the principles of fair, impartial and open. Since the implementation of relevant laws, procurements have been transparent and up to standard," Hong said.

He made the remarks at a regular press briefing on Thursday afternoon when commenting on a report issued by the EU Chamber of Commerce in China. The report alleged that the Chinese government helped Chinese companies gain advantages in bids for governmental procurement projects through nontransparent bidding and partiality.

"According to what we have learned from relevant departments, China's government procurement system is initial and currently limited to governmental departments of all levels, institutions and organizations using financial funds," Hong said, adding that the scale of the system is relatively small and the management scope is relatively narrow.

"China has entered negotiations to join the WTO's plurilateral Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA). After we join it, China's procurement system will be consistent with rules of the the GPA," the spokesman said.

China's law on government procurement was enacted on January 1, 2003.

The GPA is an important WTO agreement, although not all WTO members are bound by it. China started negotiations to join the GPA in December 2007. The cornerstone principles of the GPA are non-discrimination and transparency, according to the official website of the WTO.