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BEIJING - China's cultural industry saw steady revenue growth in the first half of 2017 on strong income from "Internet Plus" cultural services, official data showed.

The sector's combined revenue amounted to 4.39 trillion yuan (about $651.3 billion), up 11.7 percent year on year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

The growth rate was 3.8 percentage points higher than the same period last year.

The bureau tracks around 54,000 companies across 10 cultural sectors -- six in services and four in manufacturing.

Revenue from information transmission services increased the most, by 32.7 percent year on year, followed by 16.8 percent for entertainment services and 14.7 percent for artistic services.

The country's more developed eastern region contributed 74.9 percent of the total revenue.

China is planning to develop its cultural industry into a pillar of the national economy by 2020 by upgrading its industrial structure, fostering major brands and boosting consumption.