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

Chinese firms inked service outsourcing contracts worth approximately 576.8 billion yuan ($83.9 billion) in the first three months of the year, up 18.2 percent year-on-year.

The executed contract value came in at 396.1 billion yuan in the period, up 24.4 percent year-on-year.

Of the total, the value of offshore service outsourcing contracts rose 18.1 percent year-on-year to about 312.7 billion yuan.

In terms of executed contract value, offshore service outsourcing contracts with the United States, the European Union and members of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership expanded 21.7 percent, 32.2 percent and 34.3 percent, respectively.

During the period, the offshore service outsourcing undertaken by China's private sector accounted for 27.8 percent of the country's total, while that undertaken by foreign-funded companies accounted for 49.7 percent.

Outsourcing is the hiring of a third party to carry out services or produce goods typically undertaken by in-house employees.