China's tax revenue higher in first nine months

BEIJING — China's tax revenue rose 10.6 percent to 9.92 trillion yuan ($1.5 trillion) in the first three quarters of this year, official data showed Friday.

The growth was higher than the 8.9 percent recorded in the first half of the year, according to figures from the State Administration of Taxation.

The authority attributed the strong tax revenue growth primarily to steady and sound economic growth during the period thanks to the effects of the country's macroeconomic policies.

China's economy expanded by 6.9 percent in the first three quarters, higher than the government target of about 6.5 percent for 2017.

Profits of major industrial firms rose 22.8 percent in the same period, higher than the 21.6 percent recorded in the January-August period, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed. In a sign of improvement in the real economy, tax income in secondary industries rose 19.9 percent in the first nine months.

Regionally, tax income from eastern, central and western China grew 7.8 percent, 18 percent and 15.3 percent, respectively.