Visitors check their phones behind the screen advertising facial recognition software during Global Mobile Internet Conference in Beijing, April 27, 2018. (PHOTO / VCG / CHINADAILY.COM.CN)

BEIJING — China's software industry registered rapid revenue growth in the first three quarters of this year, official data shows.

Business revenue increased by 15 percent year on year to reach 4.5 trillion yuan (US$647.4 billion), faster than the growth during the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

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Profits of the industry climbed by 14.4 percent to 568.9 billion yuan during the January-September period. In the third quarter (Q3), software industry profit jumped by 21.8 percent, faster than 10.8 percent and 10.2 percent in Q1 and Q2, respectively.

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Sales of software products reached 1.33 trillion yuan in the first three quarters while revenue of information technology services surged 18.5 percent to 2.5 trillion yuan, MIIT data shows.