Despite pirate copies of the latest operating systems, programming languages, database software and applications available on every street corner of Shanghai for a handful of RMB, the software industry achieved rapid development in the first half of this year, in harmony with China’s general economic growth and with expectations that a growth rate of over 30% will be witnessed this year.

The software market can be categorized into platform and application software. The proportion of platform software will see a comparative decline, while application software will maintain fast growth, reaching 30%, with a sales value hitting RMB23.5 billion. Network-based financial software running on large databases will experience a significant demand.

Telecom software will remain a hot spot in the market. China Mobile’s GPRS construction and China Unicom’s second phase CDMA construction will provide RMB1 billion in GPRS and CDMA rating and network management software requirements. The software investment by China Mobile in the construction of the BOSS system, meanwhile, will exceed RMB400 million.

Social security software will also see some development: Social security management information systems include the five systems for pension insurance, medical insurance, unemployment insurance, industrial accident insurance and birth insurance. All the systems may operate independently or jointly.

There is still potential for the development of software involving the security of information. And while sales have been rising constantly in recent years, there is still considerable potential capacity in personal computer ownership in China. As a result, it is predicted that sales of PC security software will reach RMB1.3 billion.