BEIJING, Jan. 27 -- China's software and information technology services industry raked in 12.33 trillion yuan (about 1.73 trillion U.S. dollars) in business revenues in 2023, up 13.4 percent year on year, with the growth rate increasing by 2.2 percentage points compared to that in 2022, latest government data showed.

In a report, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said that the number of firms in the sector with annual business revenues exceeding 20 million yuan exceeded 38,000 in 2023.

The sector's profitability remained stable during the past year, with gross profits totaling nearly 1.46 trillion yuan in 2023, up 13.6 percent year on year, and the profit growth rate increased by 7.9 percentage points compared to that in 2022, according to the data.

Exports in the software business segment stood at 51.42 billion U.S. dollars last year, down 3.6 percent.