China has witnessed a robust growth in tax revenue in the ninth Five-Year Plan period (1996- 2000), a top taxation official said Thursday.

"The ninth Five-Year Plan has been a period characterized by the strongest tax revenue growth for China," head of the State Administration of Taxation, Jin Renqing said.

He estimated that China's tax revenue during the period might hit 4.67 trillion yuan, which is almost 220 percent over that of the eighth five-year-plan period (1991-1995), representing an annual growth rate of 15 percent.

According to Jin, the government's tax revenue has been increasing at 100 billion yuan per year since 1996.

In 1999, the tax revenue hit a record 1 trillion yuan.

The percentage of tax revenue in China's GDP has been rising steadily. In 1995, tax revenue made up to 2 percent of the GDP. The figure is expected to rise to 14 percent this year.

The central government's share in the tax revenue also surged from 20 percent in 1993 to the estimated 58 percent this year.

A top taxation official attributed the strong growth in tax revenue to the development of the economy, the crackdown on smuggling and a strengthened tax collection system, among other factors.

The official, however, ruled out the risk of over taxation.

According to his calculation, the annual growth of tax revenue would be about 8.5 percent during the ninth five-year-plan period, 1 percent higher than the GDP growth.

(Xinhua 09/28/2000)