BEIJING — China's service outsourcing industry posted steady expansion during the January-July period, data from the Ministry of Commerce showed.

Chinese firms inked service outsourcing contracts worth about 976 billion yuan (about $150.47 billion) from January to July, up 27.8 percent year-on-year.

The executed contract value came in at 650 billion yuan during the period, with a year-on-year increase of 26.6 percent.

Outsourcing is the business practice of hiring a party outside a company to perform services and make goods traditionally undertaken by the company's employees.

Of the total, offshore service outsourcing contract value rose 21.9 percent from a year ago to 551.1 billion yuan.

Service outsourcing with countries along the Belt and Road saw quicker growth, with contracts valued at 109.6 billion yuan for the January-July period, rising 46.1 percent from a year ago.