BEIJING — China's service outsourcing industry posted a steady expansion in the first half of this year (H1), data from the Ministry of Commerce showed on July 20.

Chinese firms signed service outsourcing contracts worth about 987.5 billion yuan (about $146.2 billion) in H1, up 12.3 percent year-on-year.

The executed contract value came in at 645.4 billion yuan during the period, with a year-on-year increase of 14.3 percent.

Outsourcing refers to hiring an outside party to carry out services or produce goods typically undertaken by in-house employees.

Of the total, the value of the offshore service outsourcing contract rose 10.7 percent to 547.3 billion yuan, from last year.

In terms of the executed contract value, service outsourcing with the United States, the European Union and members of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership expanded 3.6 percent, 17.4 percent and 8.9 percent year-on-year respectively in H1.