As general manager of a service outsourcing company, Hu Bo has been plagued by mixed emotions recently.

On one hand, he is happy with business expansion as more foreign companies offered Web site maintenance contracts to Hu's Beijing-based Internet Engine Corporation; while on the other, he's frustrated by the fact that his company doesn't have enough hands to handle the booming overseas business.

He said it was difficult at the beginning to look for overseas contracts when he founded the company in 2006.

"I had to travel to Hong Kong several times for one US$10,000 contract at that time," Hu said.

Now, he is being contacted directly by US or European companies.

Recent years saw a great development of China's service outsourcing industry. In the first eight months of last year, the country's outsourcing contracts hit US$1.9 billion, up 17 percent over the same period of 2007.

Wang Chao, Ministry of Commerce assistant minister said that more multinational companies were keen to outsource noncore business to other companies to reduce costs and enhance competence amid the global financial crisis.

This brought Chinese companies business opportunities. The Chinese government takes it as a new growth engine during the global economic downturn, as well as a good answer to solve the employment difficulties of the country's more than six million college graduates this year.

In his government work report to the National People's Congress on March 5, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao listed "to develop international service outsourcing" as one of the seven ways to keep a steady growth of foreign trade.

Employers in this sector have felt an obvious talent shortage, which may hinder the development.

Hu Bo said a British vocational training institution asked the Internet Engine to redesign its Web site last year. The project manager presented the client with a thorough plan after month-long research, but the client was not satisfied.