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"Machine 'Referees' Deliver Fair 'Hammer' Decisions—Firsthand Insights into Hunan Changsha's Reform of 'Machine-Governed Bidding'"


2025-10-23

China Media Group's International Online


Autumn is in full swing in Changsha, Hunan. Inside the Hunan Changsha Public Resources Trading Center, the vibrant atmosphere of fierce market competition is equally palpable.

On October 15, Changsha held its public open day for the "Machine-Governed Bidding" system, attracting nearly 60 representatives from key stakeholders—including tenderers, bidders, and bidding agents—who visited the trading center to observe firsthand the fully digitized, end-to-end transaction process of the "Machine-Governed Bidding" project. They witnessed firsthand the innovative transformation of traditional bidding processes toward "digital and intelligent regulations."

Bid documents are uploaded encrypted, and the system automatically decrypts and compiles them… In the “non-contact” bid opening hall on the second floor of the center, there are no staff members gathered around a table—instead, the “Machine-Governed Bidding and Procurement” transaction system is in place, serving all parties involved in the process.

In less than 30 minutes, the bid opening was completed. Bidders could finish the entire process online—without leaving their homes.

"Previously, not only did the bidding process take time, but preparing the bid documents also required a huge amount of effort. Zhou Yong, a bidder with three years of experience, may already be considered an "expert" in the bidding world—but even for him, creating bid documents used to be the most frustrating part of his job. 'Back then, we had to manually fill out every document; even when things moved quickly, it still took 2 to 3 days. Now, it only takes 2 to 3 hours—most of the information can simply be selected directly from the system.' Today, out of the 155 data fields that typically need to be filled in for a bid document, 142 items can now be auto-populated. As a result, bidding teams are no longer tackling "essay-style questions"—they’re focusing on straightforward 'fill-in-the-blanks' and 'multiple-choice' tasks instead."

Beyond the bid opening, the efficiency, fairness, and transparency of processes such as bid evaluation and contract signing have all been significantly enhanced. Machine-driven template management, machine-assisted bid evaluation, machine-led regulatory oversight, and machine-supported institutional frameworks—are all being implemented at the trading center. Together, these elements are establishing a transaction model and regulatory system that eliminate human intervention entirely.

"Comprehensive system design across all domains, seamless data sharing throughout the entire process, and end-to-end digital and intelligent empowerment." Huang Feng, Vice Chairman of the Changsha Municipal CPPCC and Director of the Changsha Public Resource Trading Center, used the term "Three Alls" to highlight the key features of the "Machine-Governed Bidding" system. "This system leverages big data and other advanced IT tools to drive a transformative shift in bidding processes—from 'human intervention' toward a governance model based on 'digital and intelligent rules'—and ultimately dismantle implicit barriers to market entry."

Behind the reforms lies Hunan's thoughtful approach to building mechanisms that prevent and combat corruption in the public resource trading sector. In September 2024, Shen Xiaoming, Secretary of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee, emphasized the need to further strengthen institutional safeguards, break the chains of corruption, and deepen reform efforts specifically within the public resource trading domain—goals aimed at fostering a world-class business environment and driving higher-quality economic and social development across the province.

The "Machine-Managed Bidding" transaction system, born out of the need for innovation, was launched in February 2025 for trial operation in Hunan and will soon be fully rolled out across 14 cities and prefectures, creating a province-wide "single network" for public resource trading.

With the bugle sounding, the Changsha Public Resources Trading Center swiftly established a review, monitoring, and dispatching team. Simultaneously, they completed hardware deployment, system integration, and joint testing. By leveraging 1:1 real-world project modeling, they conducted comprehensive simulation tests covering the entire industry, all categories, and every step of the process—ensuring the system operates efficiently and reliably. On April 2nd, Hunan Province’s first “machine-driven bidding and tendering” project in the housing and urban-rural construction sector was successfully concluded right here.

Currently, the system has been implemented across multiple sectors, including housing construction, municipal projects, and water resources. As of September 30, Changsha had already used the system to publish 638 tendering plans, with 174 transactions completed, totaling 5.716 billion yuan in value.

A more profound shift is taking place—market participants' confidence is being reshaped, and the invisible barriers that once deterred companies from outside the province from investing in Hunan are now being dismantled.

According to statistics, the 174 projects that have already completed transactions attracted a total of 11,935 bidding attempts, with the highest number of bidders for a single project reaching 423—and an average of 68 bidders per project—representing more than a threefold increase compared to last year. Notably, companies from other provinces accounted for 40.63% of all bids, while their winning rate stood at 29.88%, up 10.91% and 11.02%, respectively, from the previous year.

“Previously, I was always worried about ‘building connections’ and ‘using back channels,’ but now, as long as my technical skills are solid and my bid is reasonable, I have a real chance of winning the contract.” At the end of the open house event, a bidder wrote this while filling out the survey questionnaire.


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