Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Transport: By 2028, the pilot work on government procurement to support green and low-carbon highway development has made significant progress
The Zhitong Finance App learned that on January 5, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Transport issued a notice on organizing the “Government Procurement to Support Green and Low-Carbon Highway Development” pilot work. Among them, it is mentioned that the pilot goals are: by 2028, the pilot work on government procurement to support green and low-carbon highway development has made significant progress, innovate and apply green low-carbon technology and green materials in the highway sector, and basically form government procurement requirements standards to support the green and low-carbon development of highways. Government procurement policies, measures and working mechanisms to support the green and low-carbon development of highways have been improved, and the level of green and low-carbon highway development will continue to rise.
The original text is as follows:
Notice of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Transport on organizing the “Government Procurement to Support Green and Low-carbon Highway Development” pilot work
Treasury [2025] No. 32
Finance departments (bureaus), transportation departments (bureaus, committees) of each province, autonomous region, municipality directly under the Central Government, and planned separate municipalities, Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps Finance Bureau, Transportation Bureau:
In order to give full play to the functions of government procurement policies, promote the green and low-carbon development of highways, and help accelerate the construction of a strong transportation country, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Transport decided to launch the “Government Procurement Support Green and Low-Carbon Highway Development” pilot work in accordance with the “Opinions of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on Accelerating the Comprehensive Green Transformation of Economic and Social Development” and the “Notice of the General Office of the State Council on Issuing the 'Three-Year Action Plan for Regulating Market Order, Building Regulatory Systems, and Promoting Industrial Development' (2024-2026)” (2024) No. 33). The relevant matters are hereby notified as follows:
I. General Requirements
Guided by Xi Jinping's ideology of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era, thoroughly implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress and the 20th Plenary Session of the Party, fully implement Xi Jinping's ecological civilization ideology, fully and accurately implement the new development concept based on the new stage of development, construct a new development pattern, promote high-quality development, give full play to the leading role of government procurement policy, further enhance the level of green and low-carbon highway development, and provide better support for speeding up the construction of a strong transportation country, actively and steadily promoting carbon neutrality, and comprehensively advancing the construction of a beautiful China.
The pilot tasks are to select a number of highway projects with a good foundation for green development, carry out government procurement pilot projects to support green and low-carbon highway development, actively promote the application of “new materials, new technologies, new processes, and new methods” (hereinafter referred to as “four new” technologies), and explore effective models for applying green low-carbon technology and green materials (including equipment, same below). The pilot goal is: by 2028, the pilot work on government procurement to support green and low-carbon highway development has made significant progress, innovate and apply green low-carbon technology and green materials in the highway sector, and basically form government procurement requirements standards to support the green and low-carbon development of highways. Government procurement policies, measures and working mechanisms to support the green and low-carbon development of highways will be improved, and the level of green and low-carbon highway development will continue to rise.
II. Scope of the pilot
(1) The scope of the pilot project. The pilot project covers highways at all levels, such as national highways, provincial highways, county roads, and township roads in various regions. It can be a highway project in the planning, feasibility study, design, bidding (procurement), construction, operation, maintenance, etc., or a highway project implemented across these multiple stages.
(2) Pilot organizational units and implementing units. The pilot organization units are provincial finance departments and transportation authorities. In principle, the pilot implementation unit is the competent transportation department at or above the municipal level in the established district. County road and township road projects that meet the pilot requirements, which are the responsibility of the competent transportation department below the municipal level, shall be collected to the competent municipal transportation department for declaration and implementation.
(3) The pilot period. The pilot period was 3 years. In principle, pilot missions should apply for acceptance before December 31, 2028, and eligible pilot missions are encouraged to apply for acceptance in advance.
(4) Pilot application conditions. All regions are encouraged to actively create conditions to participate in the pilot task. To apply for the pilot, the following conditions are required:
1. The pilot regions should have a good foundation for the application of green and low-carbon technology, including better recycling of transportation resources, better implementation of government green procurement policies, etc.;
2. The pilot implementation unit shall have a strong will to pilot, and have certain construction, organization, management capabilities and technical strength;
3. The highway project within the jurisdiction of the pilot implementing unit has not had major or higher production safety accidents in the past 3 years;
4. The pilot project should have the conditions to apply the “four new” technologies. Through first testing, it is possible to achieve pioneering breakthroughs in some fields and form a good demonstration effect.
(5) Pilot application process.
1. The pilot organization unit is responsible for organizing the application of pilot tasks in the region. The pilot organization unit organized the pilot implementation unit to prepare the “Government Procurement Pilot Task Declaration Form to Support Green and Low-Carbon Highway Development” (Annex 1), taking into account the actual development practices and advantages of the region, and recommended it to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Transport on merit. The application materials must be printed in 4 copies (printed on A4 paper), and an electronic version (CD) must be submitted to the Treasury Department of the Ministry of Finance by January 31, 2026.
2. The Treasury Department of the Ministry of Finance, the Financial Audit Department of the Ministry of Transport, and the Highway Administration of the Ministry of Transport (hereinafter collectively referred to as the pilot guidance unit) jointly studied and determined the pilot tasks based on the reporting situation, and jointly approved them in a letter from the department before March 6, 2026.
III. Pilot content
(1) Formulate government procurement requirements standards for green and low-carbon highway development. The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Transport summarize practical experience in accordance with the development direction of modern integrated transportation systems, combined with current national standards and industry standards such as technical requirements related to green development and recycling of transportation resources, etc., and formulated and issued the “Basic Requirements for Government Procurement to Support Green and Low-Carbon Highway Development (Trial)” (hereinafter referred to as “Basic Requirements”, Annex 4), and made dynamic adjustments in due course according to the progress of the pilot. In the process of implementing the “Basic Requirements”, relevant regions should explore a green and low-carbon development model for government procurement to support highways, continuously refine relevant design specifications, construction specifications, acceptance standards, and green material technical standards in line with the actual situation in the region, and study and submit opinions and suggestions on improving the “Basic Requirements” to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Transport. The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Transport combined pilot situation research to form objective, quantifiable, verifiable, and marketable government procurement requirements standards for green and low-carbon highway development.
(2) Strengthen full-process management of pilot tasks.
1. The pilot implementation unit shall strictly implement the “Basic Requirements” and implement government procurement policies to support the green and low-carbon development of highways in the process of planning, feasibility study, design, bidding (procurement), construction, operation, maintenance, and acceptance according to the implementation progress of the pilot project.
2. The pilot implementation unit may implement all or part of the requirements in the “Basic Requirements” according to the actual situation in the region, fine-tune the specific indicators of construction requirements, product requirements, and equipment (system) requirements in the “Basic Requirements”, and apply green materials, processes and technology according to local conditions.
3. The pilot implementation unit shall require the relevant consulting and design units to embed the relevant provisions of the “Basic Requirements” when preparing project proposals, feasibility studies, and design documents, and strictly review or entrust a third party agency to review the reasonable implementation of the “Basic Requirements” in the researchable and design documents.
4. The pilot implementing unit shall take the relevant provisions of the “Basic Requirements” as substantive requirements or set as additional points in the tender (procurement) documents, directly procure or require the contracting unit to use green materials, processes and technology that meet the requirements, formulate corresponding performance acceptance standards and acceptance plans, and make clear agreements in the contract.
5. The pilot implementation unit shall urge the supplier to execute in construction, operation and maintenance in accordance with the contract agreement, ensure the quality of construction, operation and maintenance, and organize inspection work.
6. The pilot implementation unit shall require suppliers of green materials, processes and technology to provide supporting documents such as test reports and certification certificates issued by a third-party testing or certification body containing relevant indicators when supplying. For green materials, processes and technologies that have not yet been incorporated into the “Basic Requirements”, pilot implementing units are encouraged to purchase products that have obtained energy-saving product certification, environmental labeling product certification, green building materials product certification, and green product certification.
(3) Explore and implement batch centralized procurement. Provincial financial departments and transportation authorities can select the green materials in the “Basic Requirements” to explore and implement batch centralized procurement based on actual conditions such as regional location and industrial development. The green material procurement plans of the pilot implementing units are regularly collected, and batch centralized procurement is carried out. Encourage procurement of green materials, processes and technology through electronic government procurement platforms, and strengthen supervision of the entire procurement process.
(4) Strict supervision of highway construction. Provincial financial departments and transportation authorities should actively explore innovative construction site supervision models, requiring construction units to strictly follow the relevant national highway construction standards and the relevant provisions of the “Basic Requirements” and use green materials, processes and technology that meet the requirements for construction. Pilot organization units are encouraged to closely track the pilot situation through technical means such as big data and blockchain, strengthen supervision of the implementation of relevant policies, and effectively guarantee the completion and effectiveness of the pilot tasks on the basis of ensuring the quality of highway projects.
IV. Pilot Acceptance Assessment
(1) Apply for pilot acceptance. After completing the inspection (submission) of the pilot project in accordance with the relevant legal system regulations, it is deemed that the conditions for acceptance and evaluation of the pilot task have been met. The pilot implementation unit shall prepare the “Government Procurement to Support Green and Low-Carbon Highway Development Pilot Task Acceptance Evaluation Report” (see Annex 2) within 30 days after completion of the inspection, and report it step by step to the pilot organization unit and pilot guidance unit.
(2) Conduct acceptance assessments. According to the pilot task situation, the pilot guidance unit shall directly organize or authorize the pilot organization unit to organize relevant units and experts through data inspection, on-site inspection, acceptance meetings, etc., to inspect and evaluate the completion of the pilot task on aspects such as the pilot organization situation, the completion of the pilot task, and the innovation and demonstration promotion of the pilot task results, and form a “Government Procurement Pilot Task Acceptance Evaluation Opinions to Support Green and Low-Carbon Highway Development” (see Annex 3).
5. Job Requirements
(1) Strengthen organizational leadership. All regions and units should attach great importance to the pilot work, refine duties, clarify the division of tasks, effectively strengthen organizational guarantees, increase investment in policy, talent, technology, capital, etc., encourage active support for pilot tasks in various forms, guide and promote joint investment in social capital and green finance funds, etc., and ensure that the pilot work progresses in an orderly manner. The pilot guidance unit supervises the progress of the pilot tasks in a timely manner, studies important matters in a timely manner, and gradually expands the scope of implementation on the basis of summing up successful experiences.
(2) Strengthen policy implementation. The pilot organization unit should strengthen communication and coordination with relevant departments, explore the establishment of an incentive evaluation mechanism in line with the actual situation in the region, and ensure that the policy is implemented and effective. The pilot implementation unit shall prioritize the pilot tasks (projects) into the relevant plans of the unit (region) and annual key tasks, etc. For eligible pilot tasks, the Ministry of Transport will include them in the special pilot project for strong transportation countries in accordance with the procedures.
(3) Standardize supervision and inspection. The pilot organization unit and the pilot implementation unit shall strengthen the supervision of the entire process of implementing the “Basic Requirements” of the pilot task (project) in accordance with their responsibilities to ensure the progress and quality of completion of the pilot tasks. At the same time, in accordance with the requirements of the “Certain Provisions on Remediating Formalism and Reducing the Burden at the Grassroots Level”, the supervision process has been streamlined to avoid increasing the burden on the grassroots level. Illegal violations by pilot implementing units, procurement agencies and suppliers in procurement activities are dealt with in accordance with the relevant provisions of the government procurement legal system.
(4) Timely submission of information. The pilot organization unit and the pilot implementation unit should strengthen information reporting, proactively communicate and connect with the pilot guidance unit, promptly report on the results achieved in the pilot work, difficult issues to be solved, and opinions and suggestions on support policies, and submit a summary report for the previous year to the pilot guidance unit before January 31 of each year.
(5) Summarize promotion experience. Pilot guidance units should organize pilot work promotion meetings, experience exchange meetings, technical seminars, etc. in a timely manner to strengthen communication and publicity, form replicable successful experiences and innovative results, and promote implementation.
Ministry of Finance Ministry of Transport
December 18, 2025
This article was edited by the Ministry of Finance, Zhitong Finance Editor: Chen Wenfang.