China's software and information technology sector sustained stable growth in the first quarter (Q1) of this year, with revenue from software-related business up 11.6 percent year on year, official data showed.

Software revenue of the sector topped 2 trillion yuan (about 302 billion U.S. dollars) during the period, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Companies in the sector raked in 203.1 billion yuan in combined profits in the period, down 3.9 percent year on year, shrinking from the 7.6-percent decline registered in the first two months.

In the first three months, China's software exports came in at 11.6 billion U.S. dollars, up 4.3 percent year on year, the data showed.