China has called for public reports of suspected procurement corruption in the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF), as an anti-corruption campaign continues involving the country’s strategic missile branch.
Suppliers, bidding and tendering agencies, evaluation experts and relevant military personnel are invited to provide information on suspected violations related to the Rocket Force’s procurement, according to a notice on Monday on the PLA’s official procurement website.
The authorities asked for clues about problems in the PLARF’s purchases of goods and services, construction projects, and food and medical supplies, spanning all stages of the process and different forms of procurement, including requirements drafting, procurement evaluations, contract performance and online purchasing.
The notice did not set a time limit on when the alleged violations occurred. Reports will be accepted via a special telephone line and post by November 30, 2026.
Notably, this is not the first time the PLA has publicly appealed for tip-offs; the military procurement website – the main bid information platform for suppliers – made a similar request in December 2025, regarding procurement irregularities within the Air Force.
The platform also sought public information in August 2024 regarding online procurement violations by the PLA Cyberspace Force, which had only been formally created as an independent branch in April of that same year.
The procurement campaign came against the backdrop of a sweeping purge of the PLA’s senior ranks in recent years, which has seen hundreds of senior officers removed or investigated, including five of the seven members of the Central Military Commission, China’s top military decision-making body chaired by President Xi Jinping.
The problem has been particularly severe within the Rocket Force. All four commanders from its launch in 2015 to 2025 have faced corruption investigations and disciplinary probes.
Originally the PLA’s Second Artillery Corps, the service was established on July 1, 1966, to operate China’s strategic and tactical missiles and nuclear arsenal. It was renamed the PLA Rocket Force on December 31, 2015, during Xi’s massive military reform.
Wei Fenghe, the PLARF’s first commander and later China’s defence minister, was formally investigated in 2023 and expelled from the Communist Party and the military in 2024. Wei’s subsequent successors Zhou Yaning, PLARF commander from 2017 to 2022, and Li Yuchao, from 2022 to 2023, were both disqualified as delegates to the National People’s Congress posts in 2023 and placed under investigation.
The fourth commander, Wang Houbin, appointed in 2023, was also announced to be under investigation in October 2025. He was subsequently expelled from the Communist Party and the military, with his case transferred for criminal prosecution. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
