Growth in software and IT services declines

Growth in China's software and information technology services sector declined through the first seven months of this year, according to official statistics.

The sector generated 179.8 billion yuan ($29 billion) in revenue through the first seven months of this year, said the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on Monday.

Though the revenue total is an increase of more than 25 percent from the previous year, the rate of growth was "slightly lower" compared to the same time period of 2012.

Companies in eastern China created the highest growth in income in the industry, said the ministry, with 1.2 trillion yuan.

Software products, system integration and data management were among the top profit generators in the entire sector, which had total revenue of 1.66 trillion yuan.

Exports in software experienced a nearly 20-percent growth from January to July compared to the same period last year despite sluggish demand for software outsourcing services.