Qian Guanlin, deputy head of the State Administration for Taxation (SAT), said on Tuesday that China's tax revenue had increased 23.8 percent annually from 2003 to 2007.

SAT figures showed that aggregate tax revenue from 2003 to 2007stood at 16.41 trillion yuan (US$2.34 trillion), with the figure for 2007 alone standing at 4.94 trillion yuan, up 31.4 percent year-on-year.

Analysts attributed the rapid tax revenue growth to a variety of factors: massive real estate investment, the development of the industrial and commercial sectors, strong company profits and high levels of stock market transactions.

The rapid growth of tax revenues has provided the government with more ability to spend on public goods and infrastructure, according to Qian.

In the past five years, the central government has earmarked a total of 1.6 trillion yuan for the farm and rural sectors.

(Xinhua News Agency April 2, 2008)