The telecommunications firm, which was founded in the southern city of Shenzhen in 1988, reported a 2006 software business income of 29.8 billion yuan (3.9 billion dollars), the official Xinhua news agency reported.

It was followed by ZTE, also based in Shenzhen, with 13.4 billion yuan and Haier from Qingdao city in the east with 8.11 billion yuan.

The result was jointly released by the National Bureau of Statistics and Ministry of Information Industry, which issued a list of top 100 software companies on Wednesday.

Others among the top ten are Digital China, Zhejiang-based INSIGMA Technology, Panda Electronics Group, Founder Group, Tsinghua Tongfang, Alcatel Shanghai Bell and Langchao Electronic Information Industry Co.

An official with the Ministry of Information Industry said that among the 100 top companies, 12 enjoyed a profit margin of more than 20 percent and 35 companies secured a profit margin of more than 10 percent, according to Xinhua.

The total revenue of the top 100 software enterprises reached 143.8 billion yuan in 2006, up 27.5 percent on the previous top 100, and accounted for 30 percent of the total revenue of domestic software industry.

The top ten software enterprises accounted for 54.5 percent of the total out of the top 100.

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