The formation of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Strategic Support Force marches in a military parade celebrating the 70th founding anniversary of the People's Republic of China in Beijing, capital of China, Oct 1, 2019. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

The People's Liberation Army equipment management department announced on Tuesday that it had disqualified a State-owned bidding company from acting as an agent for equipment procurement because of improper handling of classified information.

According to a statement from the scientific research and procurement bureau of the Central Military Commission's Equipment Development Department, China Far East International Tendering Co was acting as a tendering agency for a unit of the PLA's Strategic Support Force.

The investigation found that the company was involved in violations such as "transferring and forwarding a large amount of procurement materials through WeChat and email, storing a large amount of confidential documents on non-confidential computers," according to the statement

The statement was released on Tuesday on a tendering-information-publishing website affiliated to the PLA's equipment development department.

The investigation found that the company was involved in violations such as "transferring and forwarding a large amount of procurement materials through WeChat and email, storing a large amount of confidential documents on non-confidential computers," the statement said.

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"The confidentiality management was in a state of neglect and loss of control, posing serious risks of leakage of secrets," it said.

Based on relevant regulations, the procurement tendering qualification of CFEITC has now been revoked, said the PLA's equipment management department, emphasizing that "from today onwards, all relevant units shall not sign any commission service agreements with CFEITC."

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The statement added that cooperation projects that have not yet started must be immediately terminated, while those that have already commenced must be promptly suspended.

For ongoing projects that cannot be terminated, it is required to conduct a thorough handover and review of documents and materials with CFEITC to ensure no security and confidentiality issues arise, it noted.

According to its official introduction, the CFEITC was established in 2004 and became part of China Electronics Technology Group Corporation, a major State-owned enterprise, in 2009.

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The CFEITC said it possesses Grade A tendering qualification for central investment projects, procurement qualifications for foreign government loan projects, qualifications for implementing external aid material projects, as well as the security and confidentiality qualifications for consulting services related to classified military projects.

According to its introduction, the CFEITC has 29 branch offices across 24 provincial areas nationwide.

Its tendering projects cover various sectors of national economy, including industry, agriculture, transportation, energy, information technology and urban infrastructure, said the company.