Private sector invited for military equipment development

The monopoly of state-owned defense contractors is fading further into memory, as the People's Liberation Army (PLA) has opened its tender process to private sector players.

The PLA General Staff Headquarters in November released 108 defense items open for tender, encouraging private players to take part in product-related research, development and production.

The move has been lauded for ensuring the military will have its "cannons" while private contractors can reap "bread," according to Tuesday's PLA Daily.

It is also cost-efficient and will optimize the distribution of military resources, as private enterprises often boast advanced innovative approaches. Tapping into their expertise and facilitating civil-military integration will better serve PLA's needs, the newspaper said.

The 108 items open for bidding included medical dummies used by army doctors and early warning fighter and aircraft carrier simulators, as well as cutting-edge technology including big-data processing and cloud computing.

At a military exhibition in Beijing last week, 75 percent of the 347 items on display had been developed by civilian enterprises. One-hundred-and-seventeen defense industry companies and civilian enterprises have since submitted proposals related to 106 of the items on the bidding list.

Many private companies have proven expertise in cloud computing and big data processing, and civil-military integration will advance the military, Senior Colonel Zhang Junshe, who works for the PLA Navy, told the Beijing Youth Daily.

As a result of this initiative, military spending will be used more efficiently in areas such as confidential armament development, which is not suitable for private sector involvement, Zhang said, adding that there would be more opportunities for civilian collaboration as demand increase.

However, according to military insiders, there has been limited interest in the tenders as the projects on offer are not to be mass produced but rather focus on indepth preliminary research and development.

China has been gradually opening its defense market to the private sector since 2005.