In a rare move, China for the first time published information on military equipment research projects on an official weapon procurement website to encourage competition in the formerly closed sector.
The procurement bureau of the equipment development department under the Central Military Commission (CMC) and the armament departments of the Army and Navy have released over 800 projects that will receive a funding of 3.7 billion yuan (USD 557. 2 million).
The military will continue to update the information on the website which was launched in January 2015 in an move to open China's defence sector to private enterprises and boost competition in military procurement.
According to Lyu Bin of the website, the information has already clocked-up three lakh visitors, and over 800 enterprises have sought further information at off-line consultation points in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenyang, Shenzhen, Chongqing and Xi'an cities.
At present, the website has over 9,000 enterprise and institution users.
It has issued over 2,000 piece of information on military procurement since last January.
With over USD 145 billion annual budget, China currently is the second largest spender of the military after the US.
