HONG KONG, Jan. 2 (Xinhuanet) -- China has become the fastest growing IT market with the largest potential following the United States. However, the rapid growth still lacks a soul -- software industry.

    "If chip forms the base of IT industry, computer is the bearer, and software service is the soul. The software industry will be the key of IT industry in the coming ten years," said Jack Gao, vice president of Autodesk Inc., a leading design software company.

    Gao told Xinhua in an exclusive interview recently that the current situation of software industry in China is still not satisfactory. The software industry only accounts for 20 percent of the IT industry in China, compared with 50 percent or 60 percent in the developed countries.

    The software industry has become the bottleneck of China's IT industry. How to develop the software industry will be the key of China's IT industry and economic growth in the future, said Gao, who has been named one of "ten most influential IT managers" in China.

    The utilization of information technology is ultimately reflected in software, which is so important to China. The problemhas drawn attention of Chinese government. The government has offered great supports to the industry, and the policies have generated some preliminary effects, Gao said.

    "The software industry will see 20 percent growth in the coming several years. And the application software will be used in all fields ranging from telecom, broad brand, wireless industries to enterprise finance and management," said Gao.

    The rapid development of China's IT industry is one of the indispensable supporting points of the multinational software companies which need a great number of users and large investment in research and development.

    As the world's leading design software and digital content company, Autodesk attaches great importance to the Chinese market, said Gao.

    Autodesk has opened a China Applications Development Center for high level customization of manufacturing design applications targeting the Pearl River Delta customers.

    Just recently, Autodesk posted a quarter profit that beat the most optimistic analyst estimate, driven by strong upgrade revenue of its flagship AutoCAD software and its star performing market in China.

    Most people know of Autodesk by its world-know flagship product AutoCAD. Founded in 1982, Autodesk is the world's leading provide of software and Internet portal services to the host of engineering and design disciplines as well as the film, broadcast, and multimedia industries. Enditem