BEIJING -- China's service outsourcing industry saw a steady expansion in the first nine months of this year, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce.

Chinese firms signed service outsourcing contracts worth about 1.379 trillion yuan (about $192.7 billion) in the January-September period, up 12.9 percent year-on-year.

The executed contract value came in at 947.1 billion yuan during the period, with a year-on-year increase of 12.6 percent.

Of the total, the value of the offshore service outsourcing contract rose 12.6 percent over the same period of last year to 782.4 billion yuan.

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 7.1 percent, 14.1 percent and 8.2 percent year-on-year, respectively, in the first nine months of 2022.

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