China Daily reporter Ian Goodrum shakes hands with a robot at the 2020 China International Fair for Trade in Services in Beijing on Sept 6, 2020. (Photo: Sipa)

BEIJING - China's service outsourcing industry posted steady growth in the January-April period, data from the Ministry of Commerce showed on Friday.

Chinese firms inked service outsourcing contracts worth about 542.4 billion yuan ($84.35 billion) in the first four months of 2021, up 44.9 percent year-on-year.

The executed contract value came in at 335.9 billion yuan during the period, with a year-on-year increase of 35.6 percent.

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

Of the total, offshore service outsourcing contract values reached 311.9 billion yuan, rising 35 percent from a year earlier.

The contract value of offshore service outsourcing with Belt and Road partner countries reached 61.6 billion yuan, surging 97.8 percent from a year earlier, according to the data.