BEIJING -- China's service outsourcing industry notched a steady expansion during the January-May period, data from the Ministry of Commerce showed.

Chinese firms inked service outsourcing contracts worth about 726.6 billion yuan ($108.29 billion) in the first five months, up 11.9 percent year-on-year.

The executed contract value came in at 466.3 billion yuan during the period, with a year-on-year increase of 14.6 percent.

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

Of the total, offshore service outsourcing contract value rose 13.2 percent from a year ago to 412.9 billion yuan, with the executed contract value rising 11.1 percent from a year earlier to 263.9 billion yuan in the January-May period.