The China FCB international procurement news conference was held on Dec.18, 2003 in Beijing. It was jointly hosted by The Ministry of Science and Technology of China (MOST) and The International Centre for Economic and Technical Exchanges (CICETE).

　　The beginning of the bid invitation marks the start of implementation of the China Fuel Cell Bus project. The bid document was first drafted based on the Beijing and Shanghai requirements. Then, The Ministry of Science and Technology of China (MOST) organized experts from National 863 Electric Vehicle Plan, the Chief Technical Advisor, Mr. John R. Wallace, the national project management office, the Beijing project management office and the Shanghai project management office to discuss FCB technical specification through technical workshops. International study tours were undertaken to visit FC technology, FC Bus, and hydrogen suppliers in USA, Canada, Japan and Germany in order to refine the technical specifications. After integrating domestic and foreign technical level and project procurement requirements, and abiding by GEF/UNDP international procurement rules and China procurement laws, The PMO, Beijing PMO, Shanghai PMO and CICETE then worked with international and national procurement and technical experts to finalize the bid document, taking into consideration project procurement requirements, GEF/UNDP procurement rules, and the Chinese government procurement rules. The bid document includes four parts: part Ⅰ business conditions, part Ⅱ terms and conditions of contract, part Ⅲ technical specifications and requirements, part Ⅳ attachments.

　　According to the project plan, the six FCB purchased will be operated in Beijing and Shanghai separately. During operation of the busses, technical experts will systematically collect and analyze data relating to FCB technical viability. This information will be used to improve the design of FC busses and lower their costs by acquiring experience about FCB reliability and failure modes. The projects long term goal is to improve Fuel Cell Bus applications in China and encouraging commercialization of this technology to reduce green house gas emissions and protect the environment.

　　About 40 representatives attended the news conference, including Mr. Xu Jing, Deputy Director General of the High-tech Development & Industrialization Department of MOST , Mr. Chen Jiachang, Deputy-Director of the National FCB Project , the representative from UNDP China , project advisory committees, CECETE, National 863 Electric Vehicle Program, PMO, Beijing PMO and Shanghai PMO, DaimlerChrysler、GM and TOYOTA. The reporters coming from Beijing TV station, Science and Technology Daily, Beijing Evening News, China Automotive News, Beijing Youth Daily, China Daily, People's Daily and Xinhua News Agency covered the conference.

　　The meeting was presided over by Mr. Chen Jiachang, Deputy-Director of the National FCB Project. Mr. Xu Jing and the representative of UNDP gave a brief speech. The representative of CICETE gave an introduction about procurement issues. Then the reporters asked some questions about the demonstration of FCB commercialization project in China.