Since its fi rst attempt in 2001, China continues its negotiations with the World Trade Organization (WTO) to become a party to the Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA). The benefi ts of joining the Agreement would relate mainly to market access. Additionally, becoming a party to GPA would promote transparency in governance by tackling and eliminating “illegitimate practices” in government procurement. Literature suggests that the major cost of China’s accession to the Agreement would be the loss of its ability to use public procurement as a tool to pursue secondary policy objectives. In this article the cost, benefi ts and challenges of China’s GPA accession and implementation are identifi ed and assessed, in order to see whether the Agreement offers any real benefi ts and whether there are tempting incentives for China to join the Agreement.