China Government Procurement Hit 3.32 Trillion Yuan in 2025

China’s national government procurement totaled 3,321.296 billion yuan (about 3.32 trillion yuan) in 2025, according to figures released by the Ministry of Finance and reported by Xinhua News. The figure marks a continued plateau at the roughly 3.3 trillion-yuan level and a modest decline of about 1.6% from 2024, even as the share directed toward services and policy-driven purchasing expanded.

Government procurement refers to the purchase of goods, works, and services by state organs, public institutions, and social organizations using fiscal funds. As such, the annual total is closely watched as a proxy for the scale and direction of public-sector spending.

Where the Money Went

By category, works and construction accounted for the largest share at 1,304.508 billion yuan, or 39.28% of the total. Services followed at 1,221.396 billion yuan (36.77%), while goods reached 795.392 billion yuan (23.95%), according to the Ministry of Finance release carried by National Business Daily via Ifeng.

Public open tender remained the overwhelmingly dominant procurement method, representing 77.49% of the total. Competitive consultation accounted for 12.35%, followed by framework agreements (3.71%), single-source procurement (3.12%), competitive negotiation (1.75%), invited tender (0.89%), and price inquiries (0.65%).

By organizational form, decentralized procurement made up 78.12% of the total (2,594.738 billion yuan), while government-level centralized procurement and departmental centralized procurement accounted for 18.8% and 3.07%, respectively.

A Slow Structural Shift

The 2025 data continues a gentle reshaping of how—and where—the Chinese state spends. Compared with 2024, the works category declined even as it retained the largest share, while services edged upward.

According to an analysis by China.com, the near-800 billion-yuan drop in construction procurement reflects tightening fiscal balances, as local governments pare back non-essential project spending and redirect funds toward livelihood priorities. The trend also tracks a broader softening in infrastructure investment, which fell 2.2% in 2025, the analysis noted.

China’s procurement scale peaked at roughly 3.58 trillion yuan in 2018 before fluctuating downward. In 2024, it stood at 3,375.043 billion yuan, essentially flat versus 2023, according to China Government Procurement News. The 2025 figure of 3,321.296 billion yuan thus represents a second consecutive year of near-stability, keeping procurement at about 11.6% of national general public budget expenditure.

The most pronounced long-term shift lies in procurement organization. Decentralized procurement has climbed from roughly 27.4% of the total in 2016 to 78.1% in 2025, a change the China.com analysis attributed to streamlined administrative reforms, narrower centralized catalogues, and higher thresholds for decentralized purchasing.

Procurement as Policy Lever

Beyond raw scale, the Ministry of Finance emphasized the growing policy role of government purchasing. Three priorities stand out.

Green development. Mandatory and priority purchasing of energy- and water-saving products reached 38.486 billion yuan, equal to 90.92% of procurement in the same product categories. Priority purchasing of environmental-protection products totaled 81.268 billion yuan, or 87.41% of comparable spending. Both figures rose in value from 2024.

Support for small and medium-sized enterprises. Contracts awarded to SMEs amounted to 2,308.162 billion yuan, or 69.49% of national procurement—a slight decrease from 71.79% in 2024, though micro and small enterprises still captured 1,463.849 billion yuan, or 63.42% of all SME contracts.

Rural revitalization. More than 10 billion yuan in agricultural and daily-use products were purchased through the “832” platform, the dedicated online channel for farm produce from poverty-alleviation regions.

According to the release, “the policy function of government procurement is increasingly prominent”—a framing that positions the ¥3.3 trillion in annual purchasing not merely as administrative spending but as an instrument for steering industrial and social outcomes.

What to Watch

The 2025 figures suggest China’s government procurement has entered a phase of mature consolidation: no longer the rapid expansion of the post-2003 era, but stable, carefully allocated, and increasingly deployed as a policy tool. Whether the shift from construction toward services and green purchasing accelerates—and whether SME shares rebound—will be the key indicators to track in the 2026 data, due for release in late 2027.

For now, the headline number tells a story of scale maintained against a backdrop of fiscal caution, with the composition of spending quietly changing beneath a largely flat total.