CHINA / National |
Tax revenues surge 30.6 pct in first half of the year(Reuters)Updated: 2007-07-23 19:32 China's tax revenues jumped 30.6 percent in the first six months of the year, a state news agency reported Monday, reflecting the country's booming economic growth. Xinhua News Agency said local and central government tax revenues hit 2.6 trillion yuan (US$344 billion), up more than 30 percent over the same period last year, and putting it on target to break last year's revenue record of nearly 4 trillion yuan (US$530 billion). Xinhua quoted the Ministry of Finance as saying the figure accounts for 59.3 percent of the year's total tax revenue goal. Chinese leaders are relying on the higher revenues to finance simultaneous large increases in social spending in the poor countryside and in the military budget. China's booming economy accelerated 11.9 percent in the second quarter to its fastest growth rate since 1995, driven by surging exports and investment, the government said last week. The growth figures put China on track for a fifth straight year of double-digit expansion. If the pace hold for the rest of the year, China will replace slower-growing Germany as the world's third-largest economy. The government is also trying to widen its tax base by instituting a personal income tax for higher-earning individuals and by cracking down on tax evasion by China's new rich. |
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