BEIJING - China's service outsourcing industry continued to grow in the first four months, data from the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) showed on Friday.

Chinese companies made service outsourcing contracts worth 276 billion yuan ($42 billion) in the period, up 23.9 percent year on year,slower than the 25.4 percent increase recorded in the first quarter.

Among the deals were offshore service outsourcing contracts valued at 194 billion yuan, up 37.9 percent year on year, compared with a 44.6 percent rise in the first quarter.

Outsourcing of information technology-related contracts accounted for 50.9 percent of all deals, rising 8.3 percent year on year.

Regions in the Yangtze River economic belt saw total contract value reach 93.5 billion yuan in offshore service outsourcing, up 8.7 percent year on year. Shanghai registered 25.4 billion yuan, up 48.3 percent year on year.

China's service outsourcing sector was described by the State Council as a "green industry."