QINGDAO, June 16 -- Service outsourcing has become a major growth industry in China, with its value reaching 1.7 trillion yuan (about 272 billion U.S. dollars) in 2013, said a report released on Sunday.

The figure represented about 2.97 percent of the country's gross domestic product last year and contributed 0.8 percent of China's economic growth, said the "2014 Development Report of China's Outsourcing Brand Development."

It was released by the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation at the Global Service Trade and Outsourcing Summit, which runs from Saturday to Monday in Qingdao of east China's Shandong Province.

The industry provides the country with direct and indirect employment of 5.36 million and 17.8 million respectively, said the report.

Last year, it created 1.06 million new jobs, accounting for 8.1 percent of all new jobs in urban China.

The report said that information technology outsourcing dominates China's service outsourcing industry, which also saw rapid growth in knowledge process outsourcing.

China has off-shore outsourcing businesses in about 200 countries and regions, and has explored emerging markets in the Asian-Pacific region and its domestic market.

The country will exploit its advantages in infrastructure, human resources, market scale and capacity for innovation to increase its global share of the service outsourcing market, the report forecast.