BEIJING (Reuters) - Shipments of foreign-branded smartphones, including Apple Inc's iPhone, in China rose 0.6% in December year-on-year, according to data released on Friday by a government-affiliated research firm.

Calculations based on the data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT) showed that during the month, shipments of foreign-branded phones in China rose to 3.74 million units, up from 3.72 million units a year earlier.

As the largest foreign phone player in China's smartphone-dominated market, Apple's performance is seen as significant in the overall data on foreign-branded phone shipments in the country.

Overall phone sales in China increased by 22.1% to 34.53 million units in December, CAICT data showed.