Ministry of Information Industry statistics show that foreign trade of Chinese IT industry totaled 169 billion US dollars in the first half of 2004, a 54.5 percent rise over the same period in 2003, the latest edition of China Electronic News reported.

Import of the IT products has reached 80.9 billion US dollars in the first six months, an increase of 46 percent.

Export of China's IT products in the period saw a better result of 88.1 billion US dollars, a 55 percent increase over the first half of 2003, accounting for 35 percent of China's total export.

(Xinhua News Agency July 18, 2004)