BEIJING, June 16 -- The value of China's onshore service outsourcing contracts increased 6.3 percent year on year to 42.5 billion U.S. dollars in the first five months of the year, data showed on Tuesday.

Announcing the data on Tuesday, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) attributed the surge to the government's "Internet Plus" strategy, which promotes innovation and entrepreneurship in the service and manufacturing industries through digital technology, and deals with emerging markets in countries along the Belt and Road.

The United States, European Union, Japan and Hong Kong were the major clients of the Chinese mainland's service providers, even though their contracts declined in value during the period.

In contrast, Singapore, the Republic of Korea and Taiwan witnessed the most rapid increase in service outsourcing contracts with the Chinese mainland, with all of them reporting year-on-year rises of more than 20 percent in the value of contracts signed in the first five months, the data showed.

During the same period, Chinese companies also signed onshore service outsourcing contracts worth 5.32 billion U.S. dollars with countries along the Belt and Road, up 19.8 percent, according to the MOC.