China exported software worth of 610 million U.S. dollars in the first ten
months, more than 80 percent of which was made by foreign companies operating in
China.
Customs statistics released here Thursday show that the value of
national software exports rose 30.7 percent year-on-year but the proportion from
private local companies dropped in the period.
Foreign-funded companies
recorded software exports of 500 million U.S. dollars in the January-October
period, up 40.4 percent year-on-year. The figure from private local companies
declined 9.3 percent to 60 million U.S. dollars, according to customs
statistics.
In the press release on its website, China Customs attributed
the bad performance of local companies to their small scale and lack of
competitiveness in the international market.
Another problem that baffles
the Chinese software industry is that the target market of exports is highly
concentrated in Japan, which absorbed 390 million U.S. dollars, or 63.9 percent
of China's software exports in the first ten months.
Experts predicted
that the global IT outsourcing market will reach 100 billion U.S dollars in
2007, most of which will come from the European and U.S. market.
"Only by
breaking into the mainstream software market could Chinese export-oriented
software companies gain the foothold in the global software outsourcing market,"
according to the press release.
Customs statistics show that China's
software exports to the United States and Hong Kong only stood at 70 million
U.S. dollars respectively in the January-October period. No figures for the
European market are provided.
Beijing, Shanghai and northeast China's
Liaoning Province accomplished 80.7 percent of the national software exports in
the first ten months, according to China Customs.
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