2005-09-26

Software Industry Maintains Growth

BEIJING - China's software industry maintained a rapid growth in the first seven months of 2005, with its industry scale expanding and export volume surging.

In the period, the industry generated 166.9 billion yuan (US$20.6 billion) in sales revenue, growing by 31.4% year-on-year, which was 15.9 percentage points lower than the 47.3% growth in 2004 and 10.8 percentage points higher than the average growth of China's overall electronics and information manufacture sector in the same period.

Thanks to the accelerated use of IT applications in China, the industry generated 45.98 billion yuan from system integration businesses in the first seven months, growing by 50.9% year-on-year. Its business income from software services grew by 54.1% year-on-year, due to China's rapid development in the outsourcing sector. However, the growth of income from China's software production business slowed down in the period, reaching 19.9% year-on-year, influenced by the varied market demand. Therefore, the income from system integration and software services made up 41.5% of the total in the period, 5 percentage points higher than at the end of 2004.

Supported by favorable policies, China's software industry generated US$1.28 billion in export value in the period, growing by 54.7% year-on-year, which was 23.3 percentage points higher than the average of China's electronics and information sector and 14.7 percentage points higher than at the end of 2004.

The growth rates of software export value in Tianjin, Jilin, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shandong, Sichuan, Yunnan and Shaanxi exceeded 100% in the first seven months of 2005, presenting a strong growth momentum. In the seven-month period, seven municipalities and provinces boasted software income exceeding 10 billion yuan.

The municipalities and provinces, including Beijing, Liaoning, Shanghai, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Shaanxi, made up 131.6 billion yuan in total, accounting for 78.8% of the industry's total. However, of these, only Shaanxi province is in western China, showing the widening gap of software industry between eastern China and western China.

( Asia Pulse/XIC)

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