China sees faster growth of fiscal revenue, spending in June

BEIJING — China posted faster growth in fiscal revenue in June as it saw signs of improvement in the economy, official data showed Friday.

Fiscal revenue rose 8.9 percent year-on-year to 1.7 trillion yuan ($251.8 billion) last month, accelerating from the 3.7 percent growth in May, according to the Ministry of Finance (MOF).

In the first six months of 2017, fiscal revenue climbed 9.8 percent year-on-year, relatively fast growth, the MOF said in a statement.

"It reflected the overall stability and positive outlook of the economy," the statement said.

Income from VAT, which accounted for over 30 percent of fiscal revenue in the first six months, rose 2.2 percent year on year, helped by higher industrial product prices and faster sales growth in certain industries, the ministry said.

Revenue from corporate income tax went up 15.6 percent year-on-year due to increasing company profits, while that from VAT and consumption tax on imported goods soared 34 percent on strong import growth.

Recent indicators have shown improved factory activity, strong consumption and brisk foreign trade growth.

China will release a series of economic data Monday, including GDP, fixed asset investment, industrial production and retail sales, for the second quarter and the first half.

The country's GDP grew 6.9 percent in the first quarter of the year, up from 6.8 percent the previous quarter and above the government's annual growth target of around 6.5 percent.

In June, China's fiscal expenditure surged 19.1 percent year-on-year to 2.7 trillion yuan, picking up speed from a 9.2-percent increase in May, the MOF data showed.

In the first six months, fiscal expenditure grew 15.8 percent year-on-year, with spending on education rising 17.2 percent and that on social security and employment up 24.6 percent.

China has pledged a more proactive and effective fiscal policy in 2017 to support economic growth, with the government fiscal deficit set at 3 percent of GDP, or 2.38 trillion yuan for the year, an increase of 200 billion yuan year-on-year.