Sars proves to be a boon to China’s information industry

MII statistics for January-April show sales of the manufacturing sector of the information and electronics industries totalled $54.7 billion, up 28.9 per cent over the same period of last year. Software products sales were $5.4 billion, up 22 per cent.

A MII official said the outbreak of SARS boosted on-line business, teaching, and governmental administration, which was obviously an impetus for computer products market. “In spite of the outbreak of SARS, the whole information industry maintained strong momentum and continued to be a major driving force behind the country’s industrial growth,” the official said.

By the end of April, sales of personal computers and displays increased by 60.1 per cent and 53 per cent respectively over the same period of last year, with the proportion of laptops in PC sales amounting to 20.2 per cent, up from 7.2 per cent last year.

The industry turned in profits totalling $2.1 billion, up 21 per cent year on year, and recorded imports and exports totalling $8.8 billion, up 51.5 per cent.

With the revival of the global market, exports of mobile phones accounted for 51.4 per cent of sales, nearly 10 percentage points higher than last year.

By the end of April, output and sales of China-made mobile phones totalled 14 million and 13.9 million sets respectively, both doubling over the same period of last year.

China’s software industry also played a more important role in the industry, as exports hit a record high of $400 million during January-April period. (PTI)