A Chinese technician works on his desktop at a software company in Chengdu, 2006. China's software industry saw an increase in revenue of more than 20 percent last year, boosted by particularly swift growth in income from services.

China's software industry saw an increase in revenue of more than 20 percent last year, boosted by particularly swift growth in income from services, state media reported Tuesday.

The Chinese software industry generated revenues of 580 billion yuan (81 billion dollars) in 2007, up 20.8 percent from the year before, Xinhua news agency said, citing the Ministry of Information Industry.

Software and technology services saw the steepest growth, rising 24.8 percent to 97.8 billion yuan, according to ministry figures cited by the agency.

China, the world's fourth largest economy, has vowed to raise the contribution to growth from technology-intensive industries such as software.

© 2008 AFP