Software sector rides digital economy wave

China's software and information technology service sector keeps growing fast, taking advantage of the huge opportunities offered by the digital economy.

Statistics from the Ministry of Commerce show that the software sector's income in 2017 reached 5.5 trillion yuan ($854.32 billion), up 13.9 percent year-on-year, and the annual R&D investment of companies in the industry was nearly 11 percent.

"In the digital economy era, new technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data have injected new momentum into the software industry," said Wang Bingnan, vice-minister of commerce.