General

According to customs data, in 2022, China's enterprises undertook service outsourcing contracts worth 2437.1 billion yuan, with the executed amount of 1651.4 billion yuan, up 14.2% and 10.3% respectively year on year. Among them, the contracted value of offshore service outsourcing was 1317.7 billion yuan, and the executed value was 895.3 billion yuan, up 16.7% and 4.1% respectively year on year. China's service outsourcing industry continued to maintain steady growth.

While the scale is growing steadily, China's service outsourcing industry shows many highlights. According to the customs data, from the perspective of business structure, in 2022, the execution of offshore business process outsourcing (BPO) and knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) undertaken by Chinese enterprises increased by 11.8% and 6.2% respectively year on year. The execution of offshore information technology outsourcing (ITO) contracted by 0.6% year on year. Among them, offshore service outsourcing services such as information technology solution services, new energy technology R&D services, Internet marketing and promotion services grew rapidly, with year-on-year growth of 129.1%, 61.3% and 49.2% respectively.

From the perspective of regional layout, in 2022, the total number of offshore service outsourcing contracts undertaken and executed by 37 service outsourcing demonstration cities nationwide increased by 23.3% and 9.3%, respectively, accounting for 89.7% and 89.6% of the national total. The contract amount and execution amount of offshore service outsourcing undertaken by the Yangtze River Delta region increased by 18.1% and 12.5% respectively year on year, accounting for 45.7% and 50.5% of the national total respectively.

According to customs data, from the perspective of the international market, in 2022, the total amount of offshore service outsourcing undertaken by the United States, Hong Kong, China and the European Union accounted for 53.9% of the total amount of offshore service outsourcing. The implementation amount of offshore service outsourcing undertaken by China's member countries of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP) and countries along the "the Belt and Road" increased by 4.2% and 12.7% respectively year on year. Among them, the execution of offshore service outsourcing undertaken by New Zealand, Singapore and other countries increased rapidly, with a year-on-year increase of 78.8% and 39.0% respectively.

According to the customs data, from the perspective of the nature of enterprises, in 2022, China's private enterprises undertook 31.8% of the offshore service outsourcing execution, up 22.6% year-on-year, 18.5 percentage points higher than the national average growth rate. The amount of offshore service outsourcing undertaken by foreign-invested enterprises accounted for 43.4% of the country, up 5.0% year on year.

According to customs data, in terms of employment absorption, 1.02 million new employees will be employed in service outsourcing in China in 2022. By the end of 2022, China's service outsourcing has absorbed 14.98 million employees.

Zheng Wei, an associate researcher of the China Service Outsourcing Research Center, said in an interview with the reporter of the Economic Information Daily that in 2022, although affected by multiple adverse factors, the contract amount and execution amount of service outsourcing business undertaken by Chinese enterprises still maintained a rapid growth trend, showing strong vitality and resilience. "Fast, stable and good" is the best interpretation of the development of China's service outsourcing industry in 2022. Service outsourcing has become the key driving force to help build a new development pattern and promote high-quality development of trade. "

Zheng Wei analyzed that the transformation and upgrading effect of China's service outsourcing has been shown: KPO's offshore business with higher added value and technical content has exceeded the traditional ITO business, and the overall high-quality development trend of the industry is obvious; The number of international partners is increasing, and the scope and scope of cooperation are expanding; The role of talent "reservoir" is further highlighted, and it has become an important force to stabilize employment and ensure the employment of residents.

Looking forward to 2023, Zheng Wei believes that emerging digital service outsourcing will accelerate its development. "The development of China's emerging digital service outsourcing started early, and the country attaches great importance to the transformation and upgrading of service outsourcing, accurately grasping the future development trend, which has laid a solid foundation for improving the overall competitiveness of China's service outsourcing industry and further expanding the international market share.