BEIJING - China's software industry revenue in the first three months surged 27 percent year on year to 345.4 billion yuan ($53 billion), the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said Tuesday.

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In the first three months, the growth rate of the industry's revenue was 1.3 percentage points higher than that in the same period of 2010, the MIIT said in a statement on its website.

In March, the industry's revenue soared 32.7 percent year on year to 128.8 billion yuan, according to the statement.

In the first quarter, China's software industry exports grew 24.3 percent year on year to 6.75 billion yuan. The growth rate was 2.6 percentage points higher than that in the same period of last year driven by increased international demand, the MIIT said.