China Fiscal Revenue Growth Slows as Government Spending Contracts

China’s fiscal revenue growth slowed to 4.7% year-on-year in August as tax receipts weakened, while government spending unexpectedly contracted.

The simultaneous slowdown in revenue and pullback in expenditure highlight growing fiscal pressure on Beijing as soft domestic demand and a prolonged property downturn weigh on public finances.

General public budget revenue totaled about 1.3 trillion yuan ($194 billion) in August, according to data released Friday by the Ministry of Finance. Growth slowed by 7 percentage points from July. In the first eight months of 2026, total revenue reached 15.7 trillion yuan, up 5.7% from a year earlier.