BEIJING — China's software and information technology sector sustained stable growth in the first four months of this year, with revenue from software-related business up 10.8 percent year-on-year, official data showed on May 23.

The sector's revenue amounted to 2.77 trillion yuan (about $415 billion) during the four-month period, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Companies in the sector raked in 278.5 billion yuan in combined profits in the period, down 1.4 percent year-on-year, shrinking from the 3.9 percent decline registered in the first quarter.

During the January-April period, China's software exports came in at $16 billion , up 3.6 percent year-on-year, the data showed.