Article 52 of the GPL provides that the awarding of a contract should follow one of the following principles, and the principle adopted should be specified in the tender documentation:

• where a government estimate is set for the procurement, a tenderer whose tender meets the requirements set forth in the tender documentation and is the lowest tender within the government estimate shall be awarded
• where no government estimate is set for the procurement, a tenderer whose tender not only meets the requirements set forth in the tender documentation with a reasonable price, but is also the lowest tender within the budget amount shall be the winning tenderer
• the tenderer whose tender meets the requirements set forth in the tender documentation and is the most advantageous one shall be the winning tenderer
• to adopt a multiple award. An entity may prescribe in the tender documentation that contracts may be awarded to different tenderers according to different items or different quantities, but the spirit of competition as to the lowest price or the most advantageous tender shall be respected.

Article 56 of the GPL further provides that where an award is conducted in accordance with the third principle above, the evaluation criteria set forth in the tender documentation should be used to determine the most advantageous tender by comprehensively evaluating the technology, quality, function, commercial terms, or price of the tenders with a ranking or score. The most advantageous tender should be determined by the head of the procuring entity or with the concurrence of the majority of the evaluation committee. If the most advantageous tender is unable to be determined, negotiations may be conducted, and then another comprehensive evaluation must be made to determine the most advantageous tender.

Yes. Under Article 58 of the GPL, where a contract is to be awarded to the lowest tender, an entity may set a time limit for the tenderer offering the lowest tender to provide an explanation or a security if the total or a part of the offered price is so low that it obviously appears to be unreasonable, and the quality of performance is likely to be impaired or the contract is not likely to be performed in good faith, or there is any other extraordinary situation. If the tenderer fails to submit a reasonable explanation or a security before the deadline set forth by the entity, the contract may not be awarded to the tenderer, and the tenderer offering the second lowest tender shall then be deemed as the tenderer offering the lowest tender.

Pursuant to Article 35 of the GPL, the procurement entity may provide in the tender documentation that a supplier is allowed to submit an alternative bid before the deadline of the tender in technology, technical methodology, materials, or equipment to shorten the construction period, save expenditure, or increase the efficiency, provided that the original function requirement is not impaired.