Beijing's software industrial base has initially taken shape and its goal of being a software giant seems not to be far away.

The latest figure shows that only in the city's official software industrial base, the number of software companies has reached more than 1,340, producing 1,178 software products.

Among the software companies in Beijing, Legend, Tsinghua Tongfang and a number of other names have become the nation's most famous brands in recent years.

At present, Beijing has more than 60,000 people in the software industry, accounting for 35 percent of the nation's total figure.

Last year, the IT sector contributed to over 60 percent of Beijing's economic growth, with a total production value of 90 billion yuan (11 billion US dollars).

(People's Daily 06/13/2001)