"In spite of the outbreak of the SARS epidemic, the whole industry maintained strong momentum and continued to be a major driving force behind the country's industrial growth,'' the Ministry of Information Industry (MII) stated on Friday.

Exports of the sector in the first four months stood at 36.25 billion yuan (US$4.36 billion) -- up 45.5 percent on the previous year.

"Personal computer and telecommunication industries are the shining stars of the whole industry due to increasing domestic demand and quick growth in exports,'' it said.

Analysts believe the SARS outbreak has greatly boosted online activities such as e-business, online education and e-government, which has resulted in the fast the development of the PC industry.

By the end of April, the PC industry reported sales of 137.4 billion yuan (US$16.5 billion) -- up 46 percent on the same period last year.

Sales of PCs and displays registered growth of 60.1 percent and 53 percent respectively.

"Enhanced investment by telecom operators on the telecom network since last year and the recovery of the international telecom market are the main reasons behind the growth of the telecom sector,'' it said.

Figures indicated exports of telecom equipment reached US$4.62 billion by the end of April -- up 60.3 percent compared to last year.

Domestic handset makers also saw a breakthrough in the first four months, with their output reaching 14 million units.

Sales of homegrown handsets has accounted for more than half of the domestic market for the first time. It reached 51.3 percent -- more than 10 percentage points higher than last year.

The statement also revealed sales of the software industry in the first four months reached 45 billion yuan (US$5.4 billion).

(China Daily May 31, 2003)