Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, July 22, Title: Stable revenue and expenditure operations, more positive policies - A look at the results of fiscal reform and development in the first half of the year

Xinhua News Agency reporter Shen Cheng

The Ministry of Finance held a press conference on July 22 to introduce the fiscal revenue and expenditure situation in the first half of the year.The data released one after another reflect that the national balance of payments was stable in the first half of the year, and fiscal policies were more active and effective.

Financial operations are generally stable

Fiscal revenue and expenditure are a "barometer" that reflects economic operations.Data released that day showed that in the first half of the year, the national general public budget revenue was 12.1 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.7%, and the cumulative growth rate increased month by month.

Ma Hongbing, deputy director of the Treasury Department of the Ministry of Finance, said that the steady growth of fiscal revenue is mainly due to the strong resilience and vitality of our country's economy, which continued the overall stable and new and excellent development trend in the first half of the year.At the same time, factors such as rising prices and strong growth in foreign trade also strongly supported the growth of fiscal revenue.

The growth rate of tax revenue continues to increase.In the first half of the year, national tax revenue was 9.79 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.3%, and the growth rate was 3.1 percentage points higher than the first quarter.

Ma Hongbing introduced that in terms of tax types, in the first half of the year, domestic value-added tax increased by 6%, mainly driven by the continued growth of industry and service industries, and the increase in ex-factory prices for industrial producers; the value-added tax and consumption tax on imported goods increased by 11.8%, mainly due to the rapid growth of foreign trade imports; corporate income tax increased by 3.9%, mainly due to the increase in corporate profits.

In terms of fiscal expenditure, in the first half of the year, the national general public budget expenditure was 14.33 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 1.5%.

“Financial departments at all levels conscientiously implement more active fiscal policies, maintain necessary fiscal expenditures, and ensure expenditures in key areas.” Ma Hongbing said that among the country’s main expenditure areas, in the first half of the year, health expenditures increased by 10.8%, social security and employment expenditures increased by 7.6%, housing security expenditures increased by 6.1%, and science and technology expenditures increased by 1.3%.

More active fiscal policies are effective

Fiscal policy is an important means of macro-control.This year, our country continues to implement a more proactive fiscal policy.

“Since the beginning of this year, the Ministry of Finance has resolutely implemented more proactive fiscal policies and intensified the implementation of fiscal policies. In order to ensure the smooth implementation of the policies, it has established a regular tracking mechanism and formulated a proactive fiscal policy list and work ledger to promote various measures to be implemented and effective as soon as possible.” Tang Zaifu, deputy director of the Budget Department of the Ministry of Finance, said.

A strong domestic market is the strategic basis for China-style modernization.Tang Zaifu said that adhering to the strategic basis of expanding domestic demand, the financial department made coordinated use of government bonds, fiscal discounts, special funds and other tools to continue to expand investment and promote consumption.

Data show that in the first half of this year, 2.07 trillion yuan of new special bonds were issued to effectively ensure the funding needs of major projects and key areas."Among them, more than 170 billion yuan has been used for project capital to better leverage the leveraging role of government investment." said Zhao Zeyong, deputy director of the Debt Management Department of the Ministry of Finance.

Focus on key areas and key links, and more proactive fiscal policies will be implemented in a precise manner.

“The central government has prioritized supporting science and technology as a key area, while optimizing the expenditure structure and steadily increasing investment in basic research. In 2026, the basic research budget at the central level will increase by 16.3% compared with the previous year.” Wang Ye, deputy director of the Department of Science, Education and Culture of the Ministry of Finance, said that at the same time, through relevant transfer payment funds, preferential tax policies, etc., local governments, enterprises, and society will be guided to increase investment and improve the diversified investment mechanism.

The reporter learned from the press conference that in the next step, the Ministry of Finance will continue to implement more proactive fiscal policies.On the one hand, we will promote the implementation of various established policies; on the other hand, we will implement various fiscal and taxation reform measures.

“Strengthen scientific fiscal management, increase coordination of fiscal resources and budgets, deepen zero-based budget reform, resolutely implement the tight living requirements of party and government agencies, vigorously optimize the fiscal expenditure structure, free up more fiscal resources to promote high-quality development, enhance people’s livelihood and well-being, and effectively improve the efficiency of the use of fiscal funds.” Tang Zaifu said.

"Real money and silver" increase efforts to protect and improve people's livelihood

Protecting and improving people's livelihood is the ultimate goal of high-quality development.

A basic pension insurance subsidy fund of 1.2 trillion yuan has been allocated; the basic medical insurance subsidy fund for urban and rural residents has been allocated 386.4 billion yuan; a childcare subsidy fund of approximately 100 billion yuan, and a one-year preschool childcare education subsidy fund of 24.1 billion yuan... In the first half of this year, the government has stepped up efforts to protect and improve people's livelihood.

Tang Zaifu introduced that the financial department insists on closely integrating investment in materials and investment in people, and strengthens inclusive, basic and comprehensive people's livelihood construction.

Building a solid line of defense to protect the safety of people’s lives and property requires “real money” guarantees.This year, the central government has set aside 20 billion yuan in natural disaster relief funds and implemented a rapid fund appropriation mechanism to make arrangements as soon as possible after the national emergency response to natural disasters is launched.

"Since the flood season, the central government has launched a rapid fund allocation mechanism 8 times, disbursing a total of 1.19 billion yuan to disaster areas, strongly supporting local emergency and disaster relief work." Xing Chaohong, deputy director of the Department of Natural Resources and Ecological Environment of the Ministry of Finance, said that at the same time, the central government has allocated a budget of 14.5 billion yuan through other channels to strongly support the repair of disaster-damaged water conservancy projects, the repair of disaster-damaged agricultural production and livestock breeding facilities, and post-disaster emergency recovery.