CHINA'S electronic exports, which account for one-third of the country's total exports, are set to grow at a low rate this year because of an uncertain global economy and a slump in overseas demand, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said yesterday.

In 2011, China exported US$661.2 billion worth of electronics products, up an annual 11.9 percent, the ministry said. But the growth fell 17.4 percentage points from that of 2010, it added.

"The external environment is still uncertain and complicated; therefore the 2012 export growth is expected to be in line with last year's level," the ministry said yesterday on its website.

In 2011, the top three products for export were laptop computers, cell phones and integrated circuits. The exports of cell phones jumped 34.3 percent to US$62.7 billion while those of laptop computers and integrated circuits grew only 11 percent, according to the ministry.

It suggested the government should continue to develop domestic demand because China is the No. 1 market globally by the number of Internet and mobile phone users. China has 500 million Internet users, more than the total US population.

By the end of 2011, the mobile phone penetration rate domestically was 73.6 percent, a rise of 9.2 percentage points from a year earlier. The penetration of 3G, which provides high-speed mobile Internet access, doubled from a year earlier to 13 percent, according to the ministry.