Economic downturn benefits China's service outsourcing

Against the gloomy economy in Europe and the United States, China's service outsourcing industry grew robustly in the fist seven months of 2012, a senior official said on Sept 25, one day ahead the forth China Sourcing Summit in Hangzhou.

In the first seven months, the contract value of China's service outsourcing industry grew by 58.1 percent to hit $32 billion, said Jiang Yimao, director of the service outsourcing department of Commerce Ministry.

The implemented value of service outsourcing grew by 52.7 percent over a year ago to reach $23.2 billion, Jiang said.

"The economic downturn in Europe and the United States has not affected China's outsourcing industry. On the contrary, it had a positive influence because companies in the West spared no efforts to cut their business costs by offshore outsourcing," Jiang said.

As a result, Chinese businesses have won offshore outsourcing contracts with a value of $22.35 billion from Jan to July, up 47.9 percent from a year ago. The completed contracts in the period surged 46.1 percent to $11.64 billion.

The central government's active support has boosted the country's service outsourcing industry in the recent few years. In 2011, its contract value hit $32.39 billion, up 63.4 percent from 2010, according to the Commerce Ministry.

The unprecedented growth has positioned China as the world's second-largest outsourcing provider after India, accounting for 28.7 percent of the global market.