China's fiscal revenue decline narrows on back of tax earnings

China's fiscal revenue decline narrowed in the first five months, with tax revenue continuing to recover steadily and certain industries maintaining solid tax contributions, according to the latest official data released by the Ministry of Finance on Friday.

China's general public budget revenue totaled 9.66 trillion yuan ($1.35 trillion), down 0.3 percent year-on-year, with the pace of decline narrowing by 0.1 percentage point compared with that of the first four months.

Revenue for the central government fell by 3 percent on a yearly basis, while local-level revenue rose by 1.9 percent year-on-year.

Tax revenue came in at 7.92 trillion yuan, down 1.6 percent year-on-year, narrowing by 0.5 percentage point from that of the first four months.

Among the manufacturing industry, the equipment manufacturing sector continued to post strong growth and played a key supporting role for tax revenue.

For instance, tax revenue from railway, ship, aerospace, and other transport equipment manufacturing surged 28.8 percent year-on-year, while that from computer and communication equipment manufacturing rose by 11.9 percent.

In the services sector, the expanded implementation of the trade-in program and the recovery in cultural and tourism demand boosted fiscal performance. Tax revenue from the culture, sports, and entertainment sector increased by 7.8 percent on a yearly basis.

Thanks to the rapid growth in new quality productive forces and a thriving digital economy, tax revenue from the information transmission, software, and IT services sector rose 10 percent year-on-year, and that from scientific research and technical services jumped 12.7 percent.

Additionally, non-tax revenue reached 1.75 trillion yuan during the same period, up 6.2 percent year-on-year, mainly driven by efforts to revitalize existing assets through multiple channels.