BEIJING - China's service outsourcing industry continues to grow, with a faster increase in the value of contracts signed in the first 10 months of the year, official data showed on Wednesday.

Chinese companies inked service outsourcing contracts worth $96.75 billion during the Jan-Oct period, up 18.2 percent year on year, accelerating from a 16.4-percent increase in the first nine months, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said.

Among the deals were offshore service outsourcing contracts valued at $63.48 billion, rising 18.8 percent from a year earlier.

Contracts fulfilled with businesses in the United States and the EU posted rapid growth, up 18.1 percent and 12.8 percent respectively in their value.

Outsourcing of information technology-related services accounted for more than half of the contracts, according to the MOC.

China is the world's second-largest service outsourcing provider after India. The State Council has said outsourcing will be a new engine for tertiary industry and a boon to employment.

In the first 10 months, nearly 5,000 new firms in service outsourcing were established, creating 926,000 jobs, up 92 percent and 59.8 percent year on year, the MOC data showed.