Government must bite the bullet

Further reductions in administrative costs and improvements in efficiency needed in the face of lower fiscal revenue

China's central fiscal revenue declined 0.8 percent year-on-year in the first four months of this year, and a per capita 11.3 percent monthly growth is needed in the following months if the country wants to achieve the growth target set early this year, according to a report delivered to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on June 27 by the Minister of Finance, Lou Jiwei.

Considering lukewarm economic growth in the latter half of this year and a possible fiscal revenue decline, as a result of the widespread implementation of the policy to convert business tax into value added tax, due on August 1, China's full-year central fiscal revenue faces gloomy prospects.