Recently, multiple ministries and commissions, including the National Development and Reform Commission ("NDRC"), have jointly distributed the Memorandum of Understanding on Taking Joint Disciplinary Actions Against Seriously Dishonest Subjects in the Area of Government Procurement (the "MOU").
According to the MOU, targets subject to joint disciplinary actions mainly refer to parties involved in government procurement that violate the Government Procurement Law or any other laws, regulations, rules or normative documents, and that go against the principle of good faith, and thus are identified by the regulator of government procurement to have committed serious violations in bad faith. Further, the MOU clarifies that one or more actions, out of 34 disciplinary actions, including "legally restricting the target from having access to financial grants, subsidies or social security funds", "legally restricting the target from participating in bidding activities for government-funded engineering construction projects" and "legally restricting the target from acquiring land supplied by the government", will be taken against a subject held responsible for discreditable acts. Moreover, the MOU clearly states that, relevant units shall, according to their respective statutory duties and powers, take or lift disciplinary actions pursuant to laws, regulations and relevant provisions.