China's tax revenue up 7% in nine months

BEIJING - China collected 8.97 trillion yuan ($1.33 trillion) in taxes from January to September, up 7 percent year on year, the State Administration of Taxation (SAT) said Thursday.

The tax revenue growth in the first nine months this year outpaced the economic expansion of 6.7 percent in the same period.

Tax collected from the tertiary industry rose 8.2 percent year on year, contributing 4.6 percentage points to the total growth rate, according to SAT figures, on the back of strong tax growth from leasing business, Internet-related services, software and IT services.

The surge in tax revenue from the tertiary industry reflects China's strengthened new economic momentum and upgraded consumption demand, said Zheng Xiaoying, a senior SAT official.

Meanwhile, due to the country's ongoing drive to reduce industrial overcapacity, tax collected from the mining and nonferrous metal sectors declined by 31.8 percent and 2.5 percent from a year earlier in first nine months.