BEIJING — China's software and information technology (IT) sector maintained its growth momentum in the first five months of the year, official data shows.

The sector's combined software revenue rose 22.6 percent year-on-year to 3.39 trillion yuan (about $523.6 billion) in the January-May period. The growth rate fell 2.4 percentage points from its level in the first four months, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

During the same period, companies in the sector raked in 383.6 billion yuan in total profits, up 18.3 percent year-on-year, MIIT data shows.

Software exports climbed 10.1 percent year-on-year to $19.1 billion in the first five months, generally returning to the 2019 level.

Revenue from industrial software products, a vital driving force supporting China's manufacturing upgrade, surged 23.2 percent year-on-year during the period, up 0.9 percentage points from the level in the first four months.

Information technology services continued their steady expansion, with January-May revenue from e-commerce platform technology services and integrated circuit design rising 25.8 percent and 21.6 percent, respectively.