The People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force – which oversees China’s arsenal of nuclear and ballistic missiles – has accused three universities of bid-rigging and banned them from its procurement process for three years.
The PLA branch has been at the centre of an anti-corruption campaign targeting the military, with a number of senior officials under investigation since last year.
In three separate statements on the military procurement website, the rocket force said Xian Jiaotong University and Xian Technological University, in Shaanxi province, and Southwest Jiaotong University in Chengdu, Sichuan, had been banned from taking part in its procurement process from this month until August 16, 2027.
“According to relevant regulations on military supplier management, they are banned from participating in procurement activities for the rocket force in all product categories,” the statements said.
Other enterprises controlled or managed by the universities’ representatives were also prohibited from procurement activities during that period, the rocket force said.
It alleged that the universities had colluded with competing bidders or those inviting bids to determine the winner of the bidding process.
In addition, statements from other PLA departments on the military procurement website said more than 5,000 enterprises – including electronics, catering and pharmaceutical companies – had been banned for illegal dealings since 2015.
The three universities all have links to the Chinese military. Xian Jiaotong University was designated by the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence as a “base for tech innovation”, according to information on its website. The government has encouraged the university to strengthen collaborative innovation with military enterprises and institutions.
Xian Technological University, meanwhile, was one of seven universities under the Ministry of Ordnance Industry, which managed China’s defence industry from 1982 until it was dissolved in 1986. The university offers multiple courses majoring in defence, and more than 1,000 of its research projects were commissioned by military services, theatres and government agencies.
Southwest Jiaotong University offers a popular course majoring in transport engineering and it has a college dedicated to aerospace studies.
The PLA Rocket Force – which was established in 2015 as part of President Xi Jinping’s military overhaul – is key to the country’s nuclear deterrence strategy and Beijing’s efforts to ramp up pressure on self-ruled Taiwan.
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China sacks defence minister Li Shangfu with no explanation after nearly two-month absence
China sacks defence minister Li Shangfu with no explanation after nearly two-month absence
It is also a target of the latest anti-corruption crackdown in the military. Last month, the ruling Communist Party announced that Sun Jinming, chief of staff of the rocket force, had been expelled from the party following a graft investigation.
It followed corruption probes into at least seven past or serving senior rocket force officials since last year. They include Li Yuchao, who became its commander in 2022, his predecessor Zhou Yaning, who served from 2017 to 2022, and Wei Fenghe, who headed the rocket force from its inception until 2017. Wei went on to become the defence minister from 2018 to 2023 and was expelled from the party at the end of June.
Li Shangfu took over as defence chief but was abruptly dismissed in October after just seven months in the post. Li, who previously oversaw military procurement, was accused of accepting “large sums of money” to seek benefits for others and was accused of bribing others.
