China, the world's biggest manufacturer of electronics and information technology (IT) products, said on Wednesday it will boost the industry's development to create more than 1.5 million new jobs in three years.

The electronics and IT sector is expected to contribute at least 0.7 percentage points to China's annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth from 2009 to 2011, compared with 0.8 percentage points last year, according to a document approved by the State Council and published on the government Web site.

That will provide new jobs for nearly 1 million college graduates, which are included in the total 1.5 million targeted vacancies, said the document.

China's electronics and IT products sales surged at an average annual rate of 28 percent from 2001 to 2007, but slowed sharply to 12.5 percent last year amid the economic downturn.

Sales in 2008 totaled 6.3 trillion yuan (US$920 billion), with exports reaching US$521.8 billion, or 36.5 percent of the country's total export value.

The government announced a support plan for the industry in February. The Wednesday document made clear details of the plan.

The government will boost the industry by increasing state investment, credit support and export tax rebates, said the document.

It also pledged to expand the domestic market for the industry and encourage innovation and restructuring.

In the next three years, the country aims to achieve technological breakthroughs in strategic domains of the industry such as integrate circuits, new-type displays and software, according to the document.

For instance, revenues from software and information service sectors will take up 15 percent of the industry's total, up from the current 12 percent.

In addition, fresh growth will be cultivated in such fields as digital TVs and the new generation of mobile communications and Internet.

The government said it will vigorously promote the overseas commercial use of its domestically-developed TD-SCDMA standard for the high-speed third-generation mobile communications.

(Xinhua News Agency April 16, 2009)