China's fiscal revenue posts steady growth in April

BEIJING - China's fiscal revenue maintained double-digit growth in April due to steadily increasing tax income, data from the Ministry of Finance (MOF) showed Monday.

Fiscal revenue rose 11 percent year on year to 1.85 trillion yuan ($291.6 billion) last month, with tax revenue up 14.6 percent to reach 1.66 trillion yuan, according to the ministry.

Non-tax revenue dropped 12.9 percent to 190.6 billion yuan due to continued government efforts to reduce administrative fees and other charges to relieve the burden on businesses.

In the first four months of the year, fiscal revenue went up 12.9 percent year on year to 6.9 trillion yuan, the data showed.

During the period, value-added tax revenue rose 18.4 percent, while corporate income tax increased 13 percent. Revenue from value-added tax and consumption tax on imported goods grew 15.8 percent.

In April, fiscal expenditure expanded 8.2 percent year on year to 1.47 trillion yuan, the MOF data showed.

Fiscal spending in the first four months increased 10.3 percent from a year earlier to 6.6 trillion yuan. Spending on social security and employment gained 10.9 percent, while that on education climbed 7.1 percent.

With the economy on a firm footing and fiscal revenue increasing, China lowered its fiscal deficit target to 2.6 percent of GDP for 2018, down by 0.4 percentage points compared with 2017, the first drop since 2013.