According to Zhao Xiaofan, an official in charge of the software industry with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, China's software service industry maintained a rapid growth in the first half of 2008 and its revenue reached CNY345.67 billion.

Zhao said at the ongoing 12th Xiamen International Trade and Investment Fair that in the first six months of 2008, China's software industry realized a year-on-year increase of 30.4%, which was seven percentage points higher compared than the same period of 2007. At the same time, the development situation for software export and software service outsourcing was good with a total export amount of USD4.95 billion, a year-on-year increase of 45%.

In 2008 and in the coming years, the overall development environment for China's software and information industry is favorable. The improvement of China's national economy offers a solid base for the fast growth of the industry and the combination of informationization and industrialization offers a powerful force for the development of the industry.

However, Zhao adds that compared with the advanced international levels, China's software and information industry is still weak and more efforts should be made to promote innovation, personnel training and system optimization to achieve a sustainable development of this industry.

By the end of 2007, the scale of China's software and information industry has reached CNY583.4 billion and its share in the global market increased from 1.3% in 2000 to 8.74%. Over 18,000 Chinese software enterprises registered more than 50,000 software products. Of these enterprises, 521 achieved revenue of over CNY100 million and 40 achieved revenue of over CNY1 billion.