In the first two months of 2025, China's software and information technology services industry maintained the momentum of sound development, with business revenue growing steadily, data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology showed on Wednesday.
In the January-February period, the software business revenue reached 1.8965 trillion yuan (about 259.25 billion U.S. dollars), an increase of 9.9 percent year on year. The total profit of the software industry was 232.8 billion yuan (about 31.82 billion U.S. dollars), up 10.7 percent year on year.
Specifically, in the first two months of this year, the country's software product revenue reached 425.3 billion yuan (about 58.14 billion U.S. dollars), an 8.3 percent increase compared to the same period last year.
Information technology service revenue continued to achieve double-digit growth, totaling 1.2585 trillion yuan (about 172.04 billion U.S. dollars), up 10.3 percent year on year. Notably, cloud computing and big data services generated a combined revenue of 237.6 billion yuan (about 32.48 billion U.S. dollars), up 8.8 percent year on year.
China's software business revenue up 9.9 pct in first two months
Global food commodity prices climbed for a second consecutive month in March, driven mainly by higher energy costs linked to escalating conflict in the Middle East, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) said in report released on Friday.
The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in the international prices of a basket of globally traded food commodities, averaged 128.5 points in March, up 2.4 percent from February and 1.0 percent above its level a year ago.
According to the report, the FAO Vegetable Oil Index and Sugar Price Index showed the largest increases, up 5.1 percent and 7.2 percent, respectively.
The FAO Cereal Price Index increased by 1.5 percent from the previous month, driven primarily by higher world wheat prices, which rose 4.3 percent.
The FAO Meat Price Index rose by 1.0 percent from the previous month, and the FAO All-Rice Price Index declined by 3.0 percent in March, according to the report.
FAO stated that rising energy and fertilizer prices have been driving up agricultural input costs.
If the conflict stretches beyond 40 days, farmers will have to choose to farm the same with fewer inputs, plant less, or switch to less intensive fertilizer crops, according to FAO Chief Economist Maximo Torero.
These choices will hit future yields and shape food supply and commodity prices for the rest of this year and beyond, Torero said.
Global food prices rise for 2nd consecutive month in March amid Middle East conflict: FAO
