CHINA RISING. China has overtaken Japan and is for the first time the second biggest national market in IT spending. Photo courtesy of CeBIT

BERLIN, Germany - China has overtaken Japan in terms of its share of global IT spending, German IT industry organisation BITKOM said Wednesday, February 27, ahead of the CeBIT, the world's biggest high-tech trade fair.

Global IT spending is poised to rise by 5.1% to 2.7 trillion euros ($3.5 trillion), said BITKOM in a new survey, with India (+13.9%), Brazil (+9.6%) and China (+8.9%) the biggest growth markets.

"There is a shift in the 2013 country ranking: China has overtaken Japan and is for the first time the second biggest national market," said BITKOM president Dieter Kempf.

China holds 9.5% of the global IT market, now ahead of Japan with 8.3%. Both Asian giants are still comfortably behind the United States, which enjoys a 26.8% share of the world's technology market.

When the 27 countries of the European Union are lumped together, they represent 21.8 percent of the global market share but will grow at a mere 0.9% in 2013, according to the BITKOM survey.

"Given the current economic situation, an EU-wide growth of around one percent is a pleasing outlook for the coming year and the CeBIT," judged Kempf.

The CeBIT, in the northern German city of Hanover, is the world's top trade fair for the IT sector, showcasing the latest gadgets and inventions. It runs from March 5 to 9. - Rappler.com