China's fiscal revenue rises moderately in July BEIJING, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- China's central government fiscal revenue grew 8.8 percent in July, consolidating the trend of moderate increase after a slump in the first quarter, according to latest official data. The Ministry of Finance (MOF) announced on Tuesday that central government fiscal revenue increased year on year to 604.9 billion yuan (98 billion U.S. dollars) in July, slightly lower than the 9.9 percent growth in June but higher than January-May. The MOF said the central government witnessed a rebound in fiscal revenue growth in the previous two months, but the year-on-year growth in the first seven months stood at 2.6 percent, still 4.4 percentage points below the full-year growth target. Previous data showed that China's central government fiscal revenue fell 0.2 percent year on year in the first quarter and grew only 3.1 percent in April-June. The ministry attributed previous weak growth to slower expansion of revenues from import taxes, domestic value-added tax (VAT) and consumption tax, all major components of central government fiscal revenue. Chinese local governments saw their fiscal revenue expand 13.5 percent year on year to 580 billion yuan in July, driven up by rising income from housing transactions. Total fiscal revenue in July stood at 1.18 trillion yuan, up 11 percent compared with the same period last year. In terms of expenditure, the ministry said government spending for July rose 8.9 percent to 6.91 trillion yuan, with central government spending increasing 4.4 percent and local government spending rising 9.8 percent. Meanwhile, the ministry said the growth rate of combined fiscal revenue is expected to rise steadily in the following months as China's economic growth stabilizes. However, it remains an arduous task ahead to achieve the full-year target of 7 percent, due to slowing industrial expansion, falling producer prices and tax-cutting policies, according to the ministry. Fiscal revenue in China includes taxes, administrative fees and other government income, including fines and earnings from state-owned assets. In 2012, China's fiscal revenue saw an increase of 12.8 percent. Since the beginning of 2012, China has adopted a raft of tax-cutting measures, including a pilot program to replace business tax with VAT, to help alleviate burdens for businesses and individuals. On Tuesday, the country's top economic planner also announced that China will lower administrative fees charged by 14 government departments, effective from October 1 this year.