China's software exports rise 33%

China's information and telecommunication industry witnessed rapid growth in 2003 with impressive performances reported from hardware, software and mobile phone sectors, the ministry of information industry said.

A total of 8,582 software companies with 18,000 registered products resulted in $19.5 billion profit, an increase of 45 per cent over 2002.

Exports of software hit a record high of $2 billion last year, up 33 per cent.

The proportion of computer-related products took up 33.6 per cent of the whole industrial sector, increasing from 27.3 per cent the previous year, the ministry said.

Telecommunication products made the greatest contribution with a total profit of about $2.2 billion, accounting for 25 per cent of the total.

Last year, China produced 48.3 million GSM cell phones and sold 47.392 million, which accounted for 30 per cent and 29.5 per cent of the total, respectively.