The annual salary in IT sector in 2017 was over 130,000 yuan ($20,409), the highest among all industries, according to latest data from National Bureau of Statistics released on Tuesday.

It’s the second time that the sector surpassed the previously most profitable financial industry. The annual salary in IT rose 8.7 percent over 2016, while the financial industry recorded 4.6 percent growth, the lowest among all industries.

The reason IT sector can offer best salary with sound growth rate is that the industry is in step with the direction of China’s economic transformation and upgrading, with demand for talent exceeding the supply, Su Hainan, an expert on labor studies, told chinanews.com.

The financial industry, on the other hand, is undergoing adjustment in the past two years, he said. The changes show that income distribution is shifting to advanced technology and real economy.

The industries which cut overcapacity saw highest annual salary growth rate, with the mining industry’s 14.8 percent taking the first place.

The relation between demand and supply in these industries has improved, which helped many enterprises to enhance their profitability. So workers received higher salary than before, said Meng Canwen, chief statistician of NBS.