China's software industry growth slows in H1

BEIJING - Both revenue and profit of China's software and information technology sector slowed in the first half of this year, latest data showed.

The sector generated 219.3 billion yuan ($35.85 billion) in profits in the first six months, up 12.6 percent year on year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in a statement.

The pace was much slower than the 22 percent growth registered in the same period of 2014, the MIIT said.

The sector's total revenue reached 2.02 trillion yuan in the first half, up 17.1 percent from a year earlier, slowing from 21 percent for the same period of last year.

Employees in the sector rose 8.3 percent to more than 5.4 million people, also slower than the increase a year earlier, the MIIT said.

The slowdown was in line with the country's subdued economic growth. China's economy expanded by 7 percent in the first half of the year, down from 7.4 percent for both the first half and whole year of 2014, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed.