China's imports and exports of electronics and information products reached US$885.4 billion in value last year, said the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology  Wednesday.

The figure represented a 10 percent growth from US$804.7 billion in 2007. The growth rate was less than 23.5 percent in 2007.

Among the total, exports rose 13.6 percent to US$521.8 billion, which accounted for more than a third of China's total exports last year. Imports of these products expanded by 5.4 percent to US$363.7 billion, accounting for 32.1 percent of the country's total.

A big proportion of exports, or more than 75 percent last year, continued to be telecommunication products, computers and home audio and video products.

But more than 80 percent of the exports in terms of value were only processed or assembled in China with materials supplied by overseas clients, said the ministry.

Meanwhile, on the domestic market, China's electronics and information industry raked in 6.3 trillion yuan (US$950.3 billion) of revenue from the sector's major operations, up 12.5 percent year on year.

The ministry said the sector experienced shocks from the global financial crisis as foreign-funded firms in the sector began to report slower growth in revenue, profits and export values in the second half of last year.

Large foreign-funded firms in the sector saw their revenue up 9.6 percent in the second half last year, profits down two percent and exports up 12 percent, which were 15.7 percent, 22.8 percent and 9.6 percent lower than those of domestic firms, respectively, according to the ministry.

In addition, growth in revenue of foreign-funded firm slowed down by 8.9 percent from the first half, while domestic firms decelerated by 3.8 percent.

The ministry predicted that exports of China's electronics and information products may continue to slow down amid weakening overseas demand.

It also said the industry's growth would more rely on domestic demands this year with huge investment pouring into the country's 3G (third-generation) mobile communication services.

The ministry expected revenue of the industry to grow by 12 percent year on year on the domestic market this year, the same as in 2008.

China approved Wednesday a support plan for the sector to boost innovation, increase financial input and promote the use of information technologies in various fields over the next three years.

The government said without elaboration that investment would focus on boosting the progress of the 3G services and promoting the use of digital TVs.

(Xinhua News Agency February 19, 2009)