ABSTRACT
Based on the detailed reports of the eight cities, this chapter summarises the similarities between the contracting out of social services across the different regions, which are the leading role of the state, same approach to contracting out and rapid development of NGOs. Meanwhile, this chapter also discovers the distinctive differences across these regions, which lie in the regional gaps in government funding, two types of contracting-out models and procedure, varieties of services, purchasers and project evaluation. Lastly, this chapter points out that follow-up research should focus on revealing the ideology or rhetoric behind the Chinese way of contracting out social services, identifying new research perspectives on the contractual relationship between governments and NGOs, and highlighting the capacity of social workers as well as the impact or outcomes of the contracted-out social services on service users in China.
