SAP AG has trimmed its global outlook for 2013 software revenue because of slowing economic growth in China and as an increasing number of customers switch to cloud-based services, the Germany-based software giant revealed yesterday.

However, the company insisted that it will continue investing in China on research and footprint expansion.

SAP expects global revenue from software and related services to grow by at least 10 percent this year compared with a previous forecast for 11-13 percent growth.

"In the short run, the reduced growth rates in China are impacting not just China but all the countries around it," co-Chief Executive Jim Hagemann Snabe was quoted as saying by Reuters yesterday.

The difficult macro-economic environment, particularly in Asia-Pacific and Japan, and the rapid transition to the cloud have resulted in lower software revenue expectations, SAP said on its website.

SAP, Europe's biggest enterprise software vendor, provides software and services to 80 percent of Fortune 500 firms. But its income is sensitive to the global economic environment.

SAP, which debuted its New Finance product specifically for Chinese clients, will invest US$2 billion in China under a five-year plan until 2015.