Chinese contractors took 62.34 billion U.S. dollars through international service outsourcing in 2013, up 42.2 percent year on the year. The United States contributed 11.75 billion U.S. dollars, the European Union 7.14 billion, Hong Kong and Japan 5.4 billion and 5.18 billion respectively, in terms of international service outsourcing for the Chinese mainland in 2013, data from the Commercial and Trade Services Department at the Ministry of Commerce has showed By sector,information technology outsourcing brought in 31.17 billion U.S. dollars, up 36.8 percent; business process 9.72 billion and knowledge process 21.45 billion, up 25.8 percent and 60.8 percent, respectively. Aggregate contract volume increased 55.8 percent year on year to 95.49 billion U.S. dollars in 2013. China's service outsourcing has grown steadily in recent years, and the number of employees in the sector increased by one million to 5.36 million in 2013 with 24,818 companies engaged in the business.