BEIJING -- China's services outsourcing industry has witnessed continuous rapid growth in recent years, becoming an important engine driving the country's services exports, official data showed on Tuesday.

From 2013 to 2023, the total annual value of offshore services outsourcing contracts inked by Chinese firms rose from $62.3 billion to $215.4 billion, growing at an annual average rate of 13.2 percent, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

In 2023, the executed contract value of offshore services outsourcing totaled $151.4 billion, which was a year-on-year increase of 10.6 percent and accounted for 40 percent of China's overall services exports in the year, ministry official Wang Dongtang said.

By the end of July of this year, China's services outsourcing industry had created jobs for 16.34 million people, 10.67 million of whom hold a university degree or qualification above that level.

China will rev up policy support for its services outsourcing industry as the sector is transformed and upgraded to become high-tech and have high added-value, high quality and high efficiency, Wang said.

Efforts will be made to cultivate leading enterprises in the sector and develop new models of services outsourcing, he said.