Recovery of China's software industry has picked up momentum, with profits in the first half of the year (H1) seeing a turnaround, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. 

During the first six months, profit of the software industry rose 1.3 percent year on year to 424.1 billion yuan (about 60.67 billion U.S. dollars), ending a five-month declining streak and showing a gradual recovery in the sector hurt by the COVID-19 epidemic. 

Companies in the sector raked in nearly 3.56 trillion yuan in revenue from January to June, up 6.7 percent year on year. 

Software exports continued their slow recovery. Total exports stood at 22.3 billion U.S. dollars in H1, down 0.4 percent year on year. 

The sector employed 6.73 million people during the January-June period, up 0.1 percent year on year, while its gross payroll increased 1.4 percent from the same period last year.