China's online game industry enjoyed galloping development in 2005, said a report on the industry released Wednesday.

 

China's online game subscribers stood at 26.34 million in 2005 and the actual market sales income totaled 3.77 billion yuan (about US$470 million), up over 30 percent and 52.6 percent respectively year-on-year, the report said.

 

The report was released Wednesday at the annual meeting of the online game industry of China in 2005, which opened in Xiamen, in east China's Fujian province.

 

China's electronic game industry started its development in mid 1990s, which relied chiefly on the imported technology. After 2000, the rapid growth of online game, hinging on technological innovation, spurred the expansion of China's game sector. Currently China's online game manufacturers number almost 300.

 

In 2005, China's online game industry raked in more than 17.3 billion yuan (US$2.16 billion) in direct income to the country's telecommunications services, 7.1 billion yuan (US$887.5 million) to China's information technology industry and 3.7 billion yuan (US$462.5 million) to the publishing and press sectors, the report noted.

 

In recent years, the Chinese government has taken measures to inspire and support the growth of the national online industry, including initiating a national online game publishing project, and building four online game industry bases in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong and Sichuan.

 

For the industry's further growth, several topics are expected to be conferred at the annual meetings. Meanwhile, 14 awards will be announced, including the top ten popular online games 2005 and top ten most influential people for China's online game industry 2005.

 

(Xinhua News Agency January 12, 2006)