CONTROLLING RISKS IN GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT DEMAND MANAGEMENT: EVIDENCE FROM CHINESE UNIVERSITIES
Keywords:
Public procurement, Demand management, Risk control, Internal control, Chinese universities, Grounded theoryAbstract
Public procurement reforms increasingly seek to move risk control from ex post correction to the front end of the procurement cycle. This article examines that shift in the institutional setting of Chinese public universities, where procurement projects combine public-budget accountability, technical diversity, teaching and research urgency, and frequent external supervision. Drawing on a survey of 50 demand-management participants and semi-structured interviews and institutional documents from university procurement practice, the study evaluates the implementation of China's 2021 Measures for the Management of Government Procurement Demand and develops a grounded-theory model of demand-review risk control. The findings show that the measures have improved procurement satisfaction; however, the improvement remains limited due to several unresolved challenges, including a narrow understanding of procurement objectives, overlapping responsibilities between drafting and review processes, insufficient professional support, inadequate risk-oriented review mechanisms, incomplete quality feedback systems, and the need for further strengthening of internal control environments. The article proposes a four-part optimization mechanism: reconstructing the demand-review body, adopting risk-tiered review procedures, building a review-quality feedback loop, and strengthening an enabling internal-control climate. Although the evidence is drawn from China, the argument speaks to a broader international issue: how public organizations can design front-end procurement controls that are independent, proportionate, professionally informed, and capable of organizational learning.References
[1] OECD. Recommendation of the Council on Public Procurement. OECD Legal Instruments, 2015. Available at: https://legalinstruments.oecd.org/en/instruments/OECD-LEGAL-0411.
[2] UNCITRAL. UNCITRAL Model Law on Public Procurement. United Nations Commission on International Trade Law, 2011. Available at: https://uncitral.un.org/en/texts/procurement/modellaw/public_procurement.
[3] Ministry of Finance of the People's Republic of China. Measures for the Management of Government Procurement Demand (Cai Ku [2021] No. 22). Ministry of Finance of the People's Republic of China, 2021. Available at: https://gks.mof.gov.cn/guizhangzhidu/202105/t20210510_3699403.htm.
[4] Wang P. Twenty Years of Government Procurement Reform in China: Lessons and the Way Forward. In: Reforming Public Procurement Law. Hart Publishing, 2024: 297-320. DOI: 10.5040/9781509967995.ch-017.
[5] Bracci E, Mouhcine T, Rana T, et al. Risk management and management accounting control systems in public sector organizations: a systematic literature review. Public Money & Management, 2022, 42(6): 395-402. DOI: 10.1080/09540962.2021.1963071.
[6] Bovis C. The Effects of the Principles of Transparency and Accountability on Public Procurement and Public-Private Partnerships Regulation. European Procurement & Public Private Partnership Law Review, 2009, 4(1): 19. DOI: 10.21552/epppl/2009/1/2.
[7] OECD. Managing Public Procurement Risks in Romania. OECD Public Governance Reviews. OECD Publishing, 2025. DOI: 10.1787/5dfda60e-en.
[8] OECD. Audit of Public Procurement. SIGMA Public Procurement Briefs, 2016. DOI: 10.1787/71e3e65f-en.
[9] Kohler J C, Dimancesco D. The risk of corruption in public pharmaceutical procurement: how anti-corruption, transparency and accountability measures may reduce this risk. Global Health Action, 2020, 13(sup1): 1694745. DOI: 10.1080/16549716.2019.1694745.
[10] Corbin J M, Strauss A. Grounded theory research: Procedures, canons, and evaluative criteria. Qualitative Sociology, 1990, 13(1): 3-21. DOI: 10.1007/BF00988593.
[11] Corbin J, Strauss A. Basics of Qualitative Research (3rd ed.): Techniques and Procedures for Developing Grounded Theory. SAGE Publications, 2008. DOI: 10.4135/9781452230153.
[12] Ilias A, Baidi N, Ghani E K, et al. Examining government officials' perceived risk management and internal control in combating fraud in the public sector. Edelweiss Applied Science and Technology, 2024, 8(3): 125-144. DOI: 10.55214/25768484.v8i3.804.
[13] Wan R. Public procurement of innovation policy: Competition regulation, market structure and dominant design. Journal of Public Procurement, 2014, 14(4): 473-494. DOI: 10.1108/JOPP-14-04-2014-B002.
[14] Chania A, Demetrashvili K. Public Procurement Reform in Georgia. In: Advances in Electronic Government, Digital Divide, and Regional Development. IGI Global, 2017: 151-169. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-2203-4.ch007.
[15] Basheka B C. Public Procurement Governance: Toward an Anti-corruption Framework for Public Procurement in Uganda. In: Public Procurement, Corruption and the Crisis of Governance in Africa. Springer International Publishing, 2021: 113-141. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-63857-3_7.
[16] Caranta R. Public procurement for the SDGs - rethinking the basics. In: Sustainability in Public Procurement, Corporate Law and Higher Education. Routledge, 2023: 3-21. DOI: 10.4324/9781003252153-2.