China’s service outsourcing industry continues to grow, with a faster increase in the value of contracts signed in the first 10 months of the year, official data showed on Nov 18.

Chinese companies inked service outsourcing contracts worth $96.75 billion during the Jan-Oct period, up 18.2 percent year-on-year, accelerating from a 16.4-percent increase in the first nine months, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said.

Among the deals were offshore service outsourcing contracts valued at $63.48 billion, rising 18.8 percent from a year earlier.

Contracts fulfilled with businesses in the United States and the EU posted rapid growth, up 18.1 percent and 12.8 percent respectively in their value.

Outsourcing of information technology-related services accounted for more than half of the contracts, according to the MOC.

China is the world’s second-largest service outsourcing provider after India. The State Council has said outsourcing will be a new engine for tertiary industry and a boon to employment.

In the first 10 months, nearly 5,000 new firms in service outsourcing were established, creating 926,000 jobs, up 92 percent and 59.8 percent year-on-year, the MOC data showed.