When understanding the government's purchase of public services, we should pay attention to the following three aspects: first, the main body of the government's purchase of public services is the government, whether it is the first-level government or the relevant government departments; Second, the government purchases public services for social organizations, enterprises and institutions. Social organizations include social organizations, private non-enterprise units and foundations, and enterprises include state-owned enterprises and private enterprises. Public institutions are also the objects that the government purchases public services. Third, public services are different from private services. Generally speaking, the services purchased by the government can be divided into two categories: one is the services consumed by government agencies and their staff themselves, and the other is the services provided by government agencies and their staff for the society. The former belongs to the internal service of the government, and the service targets are government agencies and government officials themselves, while the latter belongs to the public service, and the service targets are other social institutions and the public except the government.

The government's purchase of public services is an integral part of government procurement, and it shall abide by the relevant provisions of the Government Procurement Law of People's Republic of China (PRC). According to Article 2 of People's Republic of China (PRC) Government Procurement Law, government procurement refers to the behavior of state organs, institutions and organizations at all levels using financial funds to purchase goods, projects and services within the legally formulated centralized procurement catalogue or above the procurement quota standard. It can be seen that the procurement objects include goods, projects and services, and the behavior of "services" should include public services, so that the government can purchase public services according to law. Government purchasing public services is an important aspect of privatization. Sabas, a famous scholar, believes that privatization can be defined as relying more on non-governmental organizations and less on the government to meet the needs of the public. Owen e Hughes emphasized that privatization refers to the overall reduction of government intervention, production, supply, subsidies, supervision, or any combination of these four tools.