China's fiscal revenue down 0.3 pct in first 5 months

China's fiscal revenue edged down 0.3 percent year on year to over 9.66 trillion yuan (about 1.35 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first five months of the year, according to data from the Ministry of Finance that was released on Friday.

The central government collected nearly 4.15 trillion yuan in fiscal revenue, down 3 percent year on year, while local governments collected over 5.51 trillion yuan, up 1.9 percent year on year.

China's fiscal expenditure expanded 4.2 percent year on year to near 11.3 trillion yuan in the first five months. The central government's fiscal expenditure rose 9.4 percent year on year, and there was a 3.4 percent increase in local government expenditure during the same period.

Spending on education came in at approximately 1.75 trillion yuan, up 6.7 percent year on year. Science and technology expenditure exceeded 360.9 billion yuan, a 6.5 percent year-on-year increase. And spending on social security and employment topped 2 trillion yuan, up 9.2 percent year on year. ■