The software industry will be a new engine for China's economy as the country takes advantage of the Internet boom to upgrade itself into a strong software nation, a senior industry official said on Wednesday.

"As China grows from a big software manufacturer to a strong high-tech country, the software sector will become a strong economic growth point," said Chen Wei, director-general of the department of software and information service at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Taking Beijing as an example, Chen said software companies in the city had generated over 200 billion yuan ($ 32.2 billion) in sales for the first time last year, accounting for 9.1 percent of the city’s GDP.

"By pouncing at the opportunities brought by the "Internet Plus" initiative, the software sector will become a pillar industry for more cities," Chen said at a press conference of the 19th China International Software Expo, which is set to be held in Beijing from May 27 to 29.

China announced plans to develop the "Internet Plus" plan and implement the "Made in China 2025" strategy in March, with an aim to seek innovation-driven development, apply smart technologies and integrate the mobile Internet with modern manufacturing.

To propel industrial transformation and push the growth of the high-tech sector, Chen said, the ministry will roll out more favorable policies to facilitate young talents in software and information technology to start their own businesses.

Last year, the country's software industry notched up a revenue of 3.7 trillion yuan ($596 billion), with 20.2 percent growth year-on-year. As of 2014, more than 4.8 million people work in 38,000 software companies in China.