China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has announced on its official website that during the first eight months of 2010, China's software business achieved revenue of CNY828.6 billion, a year-on-year increase of 29.8% and the growth rate was 8.8% higher than the same period of 2009.

From January to August 2010, China's software industry maintained rapid growth, especially for the service and design sectors. The recovery of the integrated circuit industry promoted the rapid development of the design industry and the revenue of this sector increased by 71.1% to CNY44.9 billion in the first eight months of 2010. The information technology service sector also maintained rapid growth, and the revenues of the information technology consulting service and the information technology value-added service were CNY78 billion and CNY105.2 billion, increasing 40.7% and 37.4%, respectively.

At the same time, revenue from software products was CNY287.5 billion, accounting for 34.7% of the total revenue of the software industry. The revenue from software products increased by 23.8% year-on-year and the growth rate was 2.9% higher than the same period of last year. Revenue from the system integration and support services was CNY175.7 billion, a year-on-year increase of 25.9% and the growth rate was 7.1% higher than the same period of last year; while the revenue from the embedded system software was CNY137.3 billion, a year-on-year increase of 26.5% and the growth rate was 9.2% higher than the same period of last year.

By region, the software business revenue in the eastern areas of China was CNY725.3 billion, accounting for 87.5% of the total software revenue in the country. The revenue increased by 30.6% year-on-year and the growth rate was 10.2% higher than the same period in 2009. In the middle areas of China, the software revenue was CNY39.4 billion, a year-on-year increase of 25.6% and the growth rate was 3.1% higher than the same period in 2009; and the revenue in the western areas was CNY63.9 billion, a year-on-year increase of 24.8% and the growth rate was 1.5% higher than the same period in 2009.

From January to August 2010, China's software export was USD14.4 billion, a year-on-year increase of 26.4%. The growth rate was 14.6% lower than the same period of last year, but 3.7% higher than that in the first half of 2010. Its export of software outsourcing services was USD1.75 billion, a year-on-year increase of 30.4% and the growth rate was 6.7% lower than the same period of last year.