China's fiscal revenue grew modestly in the first half of 2014 while its expenditure surged as the government stepped up spending on key projects, the Ministry of Finance said on Monday.

Total fiscal revenue rose 8.8 percent to 7.46 trillion yuan ($1.21 trillion) in the first six months.

The central government collected 3.43 trillion yuan, up 6.2 percent, which was slower than the budgeted increase of 7 percent set during the annual legislative meeting in March.