BEIJING, July 1 -- China's software and information technology service industry reported double-digit growth in revenue and profits in the first five months of the year, data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology showed.

Profits of the sector expanded 12.2 percent year on year to 492.2 billion yuan (about 68.55 billion U.S. dollars) in the period, while revenue grew by 13.3 percent from a year ago to 4.32 trillion yuan.

The export of software business went down 3.7 percent year on year to 18.9 billion U.S. dollars in the first five months, but the export of software outsourcing services rose 5 percent year on year.