Q1 industry data released

Ministry statistics show the rate of increase grew by 19.6 percent. Meanwhile, the production volume of the crude steel and non-ferrous metal industry increased 20 percent and 36 percent respectively during the period. And the volume of auto sales was 4.6 million, up 16 percent over the fourth quarter of 2009.

The industry regulator says the total number of the telephone users added up to more than one billion in China by March 2010, while the 780 million people are using mobile phones in China.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology says the industry and telecom  sector's value in the first quarter of 2010 increased by 20 percent over a year  earlier.