Cities Summit on Development of Service Outsourcing Industry was held on May 28 in Beijing. The Summit is an important part of the First China (Beijing) International Fair for Trade in Services. Assistant Minister of Commerce Qiu Hong attended and addressed the Summit.

Ms. Qiu said that, in recent years, China’s service outsourcing industry is developing fast. First, industrial scale expanded significantly. From 2009 to 2011, volume of China’s offshore service outsourcing increased by over 50%. From January to April of 2012, volume of China’s offshore service outsourcing reached $7.81 billion, up by 48.5% year on year. Second, good results have been made in employment of newly graduated university students. Since 2009, annually increased employees in our service outsourcing industry are 700,000 on average, of which university students accounting for about 70%. Third, share of international market is expanding steadily. According to estimate by IDC, in 2011, actual contracted value of China’s service outsourcing was $23.83 billion, accounting for 23.2% of the global total. Fourth, service outsourcing business is carrying out in full swing. In 2011, the percentage of ITO, BPO and KPO was 12:3:5. Fifth, our service outsourcing is pluralistic in the international market. Our service outsourcing markets cover nearly 200 countries and regions, and the top three markets in 2011 were the US, the EU and Japan. Sixth, demonstration cities of service outsourcing are centralized and set a good example. By the end of April of 2012, there are 12,991 service outsourcing enterprises and 2.55 million staff in 21 demonstration cities of service outsourcing.

Ms. Qiu stressed that the 12th Five-Year Plan period is crucial for the strategic development of China’s service outsourcing. MOFCOM will join efforts with other departments and local governments in the following five aspects: first, integrate and innovate polices while ensuring the stability of polices; second, continue to give full play to demonstration cities; third, actively foster major service outsourcing enterprises; fourth, build a talent-cultivating system covering the full industrial chain of service outsourcing; and fifth, strengthen protection of IPR and information safety.

Ms. Qiu brought up hopes on the demonstration cities in the following five aspects. She hoped the demonstration cities can foster different advantages in scientific development, and become the role model in expanding employment of university students, in coordinated development of onshore and offshore service outsourcing, in protecting IPR and information safety, and in implementing policy integration and innovation.

Totally 180 people attended the Summit including officials from demonstration cities of service outsourcing and cities applying for it, heads of commerce departments and industrial zones of the demonstration cities, and enterprise representatives.