The government needs to buy public services from social organizations and enterprises, but must avoid turning these purchases into another lucrative field to seek rents, according to an article in the 21st Century Business Herald (excerpts below).

The State Council has vowed to let social organizations, agencies and enterprises play a bigger role in providing public services.

In some developed countries, governments outsourced public services to social organizations and enterprises from the 1980s, which led to cost savings and improvements in service quality.

But the Chinese government should know that the new approach does not mean it can shirk its responsibilities, especially on public services.

The government's approach should be governed by laws, in case this becomes another area for corruption. It must create a favorable environment for the healthy development of Chinese social organizations, which have remained underdeveloped up to now.