Software sales in China are expected to reach 31.5 billion yuan (US$3.8 billion) in 2001, or a 12.1 percent increase from that of 2000, Ministry of Information Industry (MII) forecast.

Software's share in IT market is expected to rise from 11.3 percent last year to 12.1 percent in 2001.

Statistic from MII shows that during the Ninth Five-Year Plan (1996-2000) period, software sales in China achieved an average of 28.1 percent annual increase, generating total revenue of 75.3 billion yuan (US$9.1 billion).