China's fiscal revenue up 0.3% in first 8 months

China's fiscal revenue edged up 0.3% year on year to 14.82 trillion yuan (about 2.09 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first eight months of this year, according to data released by the Ministry of Finance on Wednesday.

The central government collected about 6.43 trillion yuan in fiscal revenue during the period, down 1.7% year on year, while local governments collected 8.39 trillion yuan, up 1.8% year on year.

In the first eight months, the country's tax revenue totaled 12.11 trillion yuan, edging up 0.02% year on year, while non-tax revenue increased 1.5% to 2.71 trillion yuan.

China's fiscal expenditure expanded 3.1% year on year to 17.93 trillion yuan in the first eight months. The central government's fiscal expenditure rose 8% year on year, and there was a 2.3% increase in local government expenditure during the same period.

Spending on education came in at approximately 2.71 trillion yuan, up 5.6% year on year. Science and technology expenditure reached 587.4 billion yuan, marking a 3.1% year-on-year increase. Spending on social security and employment stood at 3.07 trillion yuan, up 10% year on year.