China's software industry witnesses sluggish growth in H1

The software sector's combined profits totaled 117 billion yuan (18.48 billion US dollars) in the first half, up 10.6 per cent from one year earlier, but the pace of growth slowed from 35.2 per cent surge in the same period last year, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said.

Business revenue climbed 26.2 per cent year on year to 1.1 trillion yuan in the January-June period, down 3.1 percentage points than the growth in the same period last year, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

In the first six months, the sector's exports rose 11.7 per cent to 16.24 billion US dollars, 6 percentage points lower from the same period last year.

Analysts attributed the industry's slower growth to intensifying competition and weak external demand, the report said.