China's fiscal revenue up 6.2 pct in Q1

BEIJING -- China's fiscal revenue rose 6.2 percent year on year to over 5.36 trillion yuan (about 800 billion US dollars) in the first quarter of the year, data showed Tuesday.

The central government collected about 2.53 trillion yuan in fiscal revenue during the period, up 5.4 percent year on year, while local governments saw fiscal revenue rise 6.8 percent to around 2.83 trillion yuan, according to statistics from the Ministry of Finance (MOF).

Tax revenue saw a 5.4-percent climb to 4.67 trillion yuan, however, the growth continued to slow down. The Q1 tax revenue growth dropped 11.9 percentage points year on year.

The slide was attributed to China's newly-revised tax exemption and deduction policies, said the ministry.

In a breakdown, revenue from individual income tax plunged 29.7 percent year on year to 323.9 billion yuan. Revenue from stock trading stamp tax dipped by 4.2 percent over the same period last year to 39.7 billion yuan, while that from tariffs dropped by 4.8 percent, MOF data showed.

China's fiscal spending expanded 15 percent year on year to more than 5.86 trillion yuan in Q1, according to the ministry.

Social security and employment and education took the lion's share of fiscal spending, while expenditure on transport and energy conservation and environmental protection kept a fast-growing pace.

China will implement an employment-first policy this year, aiming to create more than 11 million new urban jobs, according to the government work report delivered to the annual session of China's top legislature on March 5.

The country will maintain a proactive fiscal policy stance in 2019, with a higher deficit-to-GDP ratio to leave policy space to address potential risks.

From April 1, the country started to slash the value-added tax in multiple industries, including manufacturing, transportation and construction, which will bother the revenue growth.

However, the preferential tax policies will ease the burden of the enterprises, stimulate market vitality and strengthen the stability of the country's macroeconomic growth, said the MOF, adding that China will meet its annual revenue growth target.

In 2018, taxes and fees levied on enterprises and individuals were reduced by around 1.3 trillion yuan as a result of multiple tax reduction policies introduced by the government.