Workers make masks at a medical supply company in Nan'an district, Southwest China's Chongqing, Feb 11, 2020. (Photo: Xinhua)

China urged local governments to provide assistance, such as introducing special working hour schedules, to support service outsourcing companies to resume production, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

Provincial and city-level governments should ensure the supply of anti-epidemic materials to large-scale service outsourcing businesses, and organize catering enterprises to offer "mobile canteens" and food takeaway services to them, said a circular unveiled by the ministry on Wednesday.

To prevent possible infection caused by the novel coronavirus outbreak, local governments also should guide service outsourcing companies to adopt flexible working hours to carry out the work. Companies can apply for export-related documents via the governments' online platforms for qualification review, before the country officially announces the epidemic is ended, the ministry said.

Outsourcing is a business practice where a company hires another company to perform tasks. In the past decade, the new wave of technology advancement has generated opportunities for Chinese service outsourcing providers to transform and adapt to the digital era.