China's 2019 final accounts show proactive fiscal policy underpinning stable growth

China stepped up the implementation of a proactive fiscal policy to foster sustained social and economic growth last year, said a report on the central government's final accounts for 2019 delivered to China's top legislature on June 18.

On behalf of the State Council, Finance Minister Liu Kun delivered the report at a plenary meeting of the ongoing session of the National People's Congress Standing Committee.

The central government's general public budget revenue totaled 9.25 trillion yuan ($1.3 trillion), while the general public budget expenditure was 11.08 trillion yuan, making a 1.83-trillion-yuan fiscal deficit, which is in line with the government budget, Liu said.

The general public budget revenue grew by 4.5 percent year-on-year in 2019, down 0.8 percentage points from the previous year under circumstances like larger-scale tax and fee cuts and easing economic growth, said Liu.

Tax cuts and fee reductions last year totaled 2.36 trillion yuan, 1.93 trillion yuan of which came from tax cuts, official data showed.

Measures to lower taxes and curtail fees have played a pivotal role in areas like reducing burdens on companies, spurring consumption, stabilizing market expectations and expanding employment, which helped shore up the stable growth of the real economy, said Liu.

During the first five months of this year, China's general public budget revenue reached 7.77 trillion yuan, down 13.6 percent year-on-year, with tax revenue declining 14.9 percent to 6.68 trillion yuan.

The central government and local governments face significant pressure to maintain fiscal balance this year, especially in regions hard hit by COVID-19 and at primary-level authorities, the minister said, stressing the need to help relieve fiscal difficulties at local levels.