The European Union continued to be the largest source of imported technology for China last year, accounting for one third of the total technologies valued at $8.66 billion.

The EU is followed by Japan, which exported technologies valued at $5.24 billion, while the United States, with a contract value of $4.23 billion, ranks third.

China approved 10,538 technology import contracts in 2006, involving a contract value of $22.02 billion, up 15.6 percent year on year, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

Half of the technologies were imported by foreign-invested enterprises, with a total value of $11.3 billion, an increase of 36.7 per cent year-on-year.

State-owned enterprises imported technologies valued at $8.9 billion, 40.8 percent of the total and a slight decrease from the previous year.

The major technologies imported are for electronic and telecommunication equipment manufacturing, rail transportation, and transportation equipment manufacturing.

The electronic and telecommunication equipment manufacturing industry replaced the rail transport sector to become the leader in technology imports. They were worth $4.15 billion, nearly double the previous year's amount.

The contract value of patented technology is $7.28 billion, about one-third of the total value of technology imported. This is followed by technology consultancy and technology services, valued at $5.18 billion.

Editor: Yan