BEIJING, June 10 (Xinhua) -- China's Internet businesses posted faster revenue growth in the first four months of the year, official data showed.

Major Internet businesses and related service providers saw revenue surge 24.9 percent year-on-year to 264.9 billion yuan (about 41.4 billion U.S. dollars) in the January-April period, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

The growth was 5.4 percentage points faster than the same period last year, the ministry said.

Online gaming and e-commerce maintained brisk expansion, with online gaming revenue up 27.9 percent year-on-year to reach 58.7 billion yuan. Income of e-commerce platforms jumped 40.4 percent to 92.3 billion yuan.

During the period, the Internet industry invested 14.5 billion yuan into research and development, up 22.3 percent year on year, according to the ministry.

The Internet sector has become a key part of China's "new economy" as the country undergoes a shift to growth driven more by technology and consumption.