According to Art. 9 of the Government Procurement Law, government procurement must facilitate the achievement of China's policies for economic and social development, including but not limited to environmental protection, assistance to underdeveloped or ethnic minority areas, and the promotion of SMEs.
The Ministry of Finance (MOF) has issued a Notification on Further Supporting Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Public Procurement (MOF Announcement No. 19) in response to the State Council's Notification on a Package of Policy Measures to Stabilize the Economy (Guo Fa 2022 No.12). This announcement outlines three primary directives for relevant procuring entities: (i) strict implementation of public procurement policies supporting SMEs; (ii) enhancement of price preferences for SMEs; (iii) augmentation of the proportion of reserves allocated for SMEs.
Furthermore, MOF Announcement No. 19 introduces significant modifications to the preferential treatment of SMEs in public procurement. The price deduction preferential rate for small and micro enterprises in goods and service procurement projects has been increased from the previously stipulated 6%-10% (as per Document No. 46 of Caiku 2020) to 10%-20%. Moreover, for large and medium-sized enterprises that form consortia with or subcontract to small and micro enterprises, the preferential rate has been elevated from 2%-3% to 4%-6%.

It is reported that under both its government procurement and tendering and bidding regimes, China continues to implement policies favouring products, services, and technologies made or developed by Chinese-owned and Chinese-controlled companies through explicit and implicit requirements. These policies hinder foreign companies from competing fairly in China. Despite China's commitment to equal treatment, foreign companies report instances where tendering documents mandate "domestic brands" and "indigenous designs." Since China has not yet established clear rules on what constitutes a "domestic product," procurement officials often prefer to err on the side of caution and purchase products from domestic Chinese companies.

China is not a party to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA). However, the country has been an observer of the WTO GPA since 2002.

In accordance with Special Management Measure No. 14 of the Special Administrative Measures (Negative List) for Foreign Investment Access (2021 Edition), foreign investors are prohibited from holding more than 50% equity interest in any enterprise engaged in value-added telecommunication services, with the exception of e-commerce, domestic multi-party communication services, store-and-forward services, and call centre services. Similarly, Art. 6 of the Provisions on the Administration of Foreign-Invested Telecommunications Enterprises stipulates that foreign investors may not hold more than 50% equity interest in enterprises conducting value-added telecommunication services, unless otherwise prescribed by the state. This provision was revised in 2022 to include the exception “unless otherwise prescribed by the State,” aligning with national and local regulations aimed at further relaxing restrictions on the proportion of foreign ownership in the telecommunications sector. As specified in Art. 8 of the Telecommunications Regulations, value-added telecom businesses refer to telecommunication and information services provided through public network infrastructure. These services include electronic mail, voice mailboxes, online database storage and retrieval, electronic data interchange, online data processing and transaction processing, value-added fax, internet service provision (ISP), internet content provision (ICP), and video teleconferencing.