In mid-December, an armored regiment under the Nanjing Military Area Command intended to refurbish its barracks. The regiment leaders received 33 "notes" from various quarters asking for special favor. However, they refused to be swayed by these "notes" and insisted on holding fair and open public bidding for the project. Their action was widely acclaimed by the officers and men as well as the bidders.

　　Some house roofs in the barracks of this regiment leak during raining days as they have long been out of repair. In order to provide a comfortable living and study environment for officers and men, in October this year, the higher level allocated more than RMB10 million to the regiment for refurbishing these houses. After careful evaluations and appraisals of the refurbishing plan, the Party committee of the regiment eventually decided that the refurbishing project should adopt public bidding. When the news came out, 30 contractors came to bid for the project successively. Some contractors from the area where the regiment was stationed came to the regiment leaders with "notes", asking for special favor.　　 However, the leaders of the regiment replied with one voice: we sincerely welcome you to bid for the project, however, the tender should be submitted in line with the related regulations. A contractor surnamed Bao, handed in 7 "notes" to the regiment leaders, but to no avail.　

　　The regiment leaders altogether received 33 "notes" in a few days, some of which were written by local department leaders, some were written by old acquaintances, some were written by comrades-in-arms or former classmates. Confronted with such situation, the Party committee members reached a common understanding: the barracks refurbishment was a matter which concerned the well-being of officers and men, they would rather offend some people than giving up the public bidding.　

　　After several rounds of competitions, the bidders who won the construction license were contractors from other cities with strong technical strength and good credibility. Regiment Commander Zhu Yaozhong told the reporter that the regiment had signed agreements for more than 10 projects, and all of them were by public bidding.

　　By Dai Feng and Zhuda

　　(December 26, PLA Daily)