China's software sector revenue, profit grow in 2021

An automated installation demonstrates house building at the Intelligent Industry & Information Technology Exhibition Area of the 4th China International Import Expo (CIIE) in east China's Shanghai, Nov. 7, 2021. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)

BEIJING, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- China's software and information technology sector sustained sound growth momentum in 2021, with revenue and profit maintaining steady expansion, official data showed.

There were more than 40,000 companies in the sector with an annual revenue of more than 5 million yuan (about 784,363 U.S. dollars) last year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

Those companies reported combined revenue of nearly 9.5 trillion yuan, up 17.7 percent year on year.

Specifically, information technology services registered rapid growth last year, with the revenue rising 20 percent year on year to more than 6 trillion yuan, 2.3 percentage points higher than the average level of the whole sector.

The software sector's combined profits rose 7.6 percent year on year to nearly 1.19 trillion yuan last year.

In 2021, China's software exports came in at 52.1 billion U.S. dollars, up 8.8 percent year on year, MIIT data showed.