The revenue of China's software industry exceeded 13 trillion yuan (about 1.78 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2024, contributing 4.4 percent to the nation's GDP, according to information released at the 4th China International Software Development Conference held in Beijing on Thursday.
"Last year, China's software business revenue reached 13.7 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of over 10 percent and a 44.2 percent growth compared to the beginning of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) period," said Xie Shaofeng, chief engineer of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).
Data from the MIIT also revealed a record high of over 2.8 million software copyright registrations, up 13 percent year-on-year.
In the first two months of this year, the revenue of information technology services maitained double-digit growth, reaching over 1.26 trillion yuan. Cloud computing and big data services generated 237.6 billion yuan in revenue, an 8.8 percent year-on-year increase.
Furthermore, the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to further propel the industry's growth. By enhancing software development efficiency and quality while lowering technical barriers, AI is poised to transform the sector.
"An intelligent complex will integrate platform data, computing power, case studies, and tools to provide users with ready-made solutions," said Chen Baoguo, executive deputy secretary-general of the China Software Industry Association.
Chen predicts that AI will contribute to over 20 percent of annual growth in the software market over the next five years, driving the industry's intelligent upgrade and creating new growth opportunities.
China's software industry achieves robust growth last year
Peaceful protests originally driven by economic conditions in Iran spiraled into more volatile and violent unrests as a result of foreign agents infiltrating the demonstrations, Iranian professor Foad Izadi has said.
Protests have erupted in several Iranian cities since late December over the sharp fall in the national currency, the rial, and long-standing economic hardships. The reported death toll from the unrest on both sides of the security forces and civilians is mounting.
During an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN), Izadi, a professor of world studies at the University of Tehran, said that what began as peaceful demonstrations in the Iranian capital and across the country soon grew into something far worse as a result of outside interference.
"Initially, we had legitimate protests. Iran's currency fluctuated, and a number of shopkeepers were affected negatively by because of this fluctuation. It was a peaceful protest, nothing happened, no injuries, nothing. But quickly, we had organized opposition, generally led by the former Shah's son, that took over these demonstrations. So in the last 10 days or so, we have had no real demonstrations," he said.
Izadi said that there are signs that certain foreign countries are responsible for fomenting unrest on the ground.
Writing on social media earlier this month, former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who is also a former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, did acknowledge the presence of Israeli agents operating on the ground in Iran, wishing "Happy New Year to every Iranian in the streets. Also to every Mossad agent walking beside them."
"We have had riots. We have had Mossad agents infiltrating these riots and shooting at the police. We have had over 100 police casualties in the last 10 days or so. How do we know that? The former CIA director and former Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, sent these Mossad agents New Year's message greeting, saying that alongside protesters you have Mossad agents walking, which is true, because Iranian authorities have arrested a number of Mossad agents," Izadi said.
The scholar said the infiltration is an attempt to provoke riots by Israel, which he views as a violent agitator, noting that the country killed over 70,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip during its assault on the besieged enclave.
"So we have confirmation on the American side, and we have confirmation on the Iranian side, that this is not a protest. When you have intelligence services of a regime that finished killing 70,000 people just a few months ago infiltrating demonstrations, that is not demonstrations. That's going to be riots," he said.
U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened military action against Iran if the country's leadership continued to crack down on protests.
Peaceful protests turned violent with foreign infiltration: Iranian political scholar
