The difference between centralized procurement, decentralized procurement and public bidding

Legal analysis: Centralized procurement refers to the centralized procurement of goods, projects and services in the centralized procurement catalogue. Centralized procurement includes centralized procurement by institutions and centralized procurement by departments. Catalogue belongs to general procurement projects, and centralized procurement institutions shall be entrusted to purchase on their behalf. For projects with special requirements for this department and this system, centralized procurement by departments should be implemented.

Decentralized procurement refers to the way that procurement units organize or entrust centralized procurement agencies and intermediaries (collectively referred to as "government procurement agencies") to organize and implement the procurement of goods, projects and services beyond the centralized procurement catalogue and above the procurement limit.

Public bidding is the main procurement method of government procurement, which refers to a procurement method in which the purchaser invites all potential unspecified suppliers to participate in bidding by issuing a tender announcement according to legal procedures, and the purchaser selects the winning supplier from all bidding suppliers through some predetermined criteria and signs a government procurement contract with them. .

Legal basis: Article 7 of People's Republic of China (PRC) Government Procurement Law combines centralized procurement with decentralized procurement. The scope of centralized procurement is determined by the centralized procurement catalogue published by the people's governments at or above the provincial level.

The centralized procurement catalogue of government procurement projects within the central budget is determined and published by the State Council; The centralized procurement catalogue of government procurement projects belonging to local budgets shall be determined and published by the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government or their authorized institutions.

Government procurement projects listed in the centralized procurement catalogue shall be subject to centralized procurement.