On May 20, 2024, the fiscal revenue and expenditure situation announced by the Chinese Ministry of Finance revealed that from January to April, the national general public budget revenue was 8.0926 trillion yuan, a decrease of 2.7% compared to the same period last year. Of this, the stamp tax dropped by 17.1%, and the securities transaction stamp tax plummeted by 52.7%.
The decline in fiscal revenue from January to April continued to widen. Previously, the Chinese Ministry of Finance had announced on April 22 that in the first quarter, from January to March, the national general public budget revenue was 6.0877 trillion yuan, a decrease of 2.3% year-on-year.
When divided into central and local levels, from January to April, the central general public budget revenue was 3.525 trillion yuan, a decrease of 6.2% year-on-year, while local general public budget revenue at the regional level was 4.5676 trillion yuan, an increase of 0.1% year-on-year.
Looking at tax and non-tax revenue, from January to April, national tax revenue was 6.6938 trillion yuan, a decrease of 4.9% year-on-year. After excluding special factors, the comparable growth was around 0.5%. Non-tax revenue was 1.3988 trillion yuan, an increase of 9.4%.
Non-tax revenue includes the realization income of state-owned assets and income generated by the use of public authority by Chinese government departments and public institutions, the latter of which includes confiscated income. The rapid growth of non-tax revenue indicates that the Chinese government is intensifying its efforts to seize money from the people through the use of public authority.
Additionally, from January to April, national government fund budget revenue was 1.3484 trillion yuan, a decrease of 7.7% year-on-year.
When broken down into central and local levels, central government fund budget revenue was 132.6 billion yuan, an increase of 11.1% year-on-year. Local government fund budget revenue at the regional level was 1.2158 trillion yuan, a decrease of 9.3%. Among which, revenue from the transfer of state-owned land use rights was 1.0536 trillion yuan, a decrease of 10.4% year-on-year.
Chinese issues expert Wang He recently stated in a commentary on Epoch Times that the Chinese Communist Party’s finances have “four accounts,” but the main ones are the “national general public budget revenue and expenditure” and the “national government fund budget revenue and expenditure.”
The main body of the government fund is at the local level. For local governments, in addition to local debts, there is also a big problem, which is the gap in government fund revenue and expenditure that they cannot escape from.
Wang He pointed out that the contradictions between income and expenditure within the Chinese Communist Party are becoming increasingly sharp, manifested in the lack of increasing revenue. Moreover, due to overall economic decline and major impacts like the pandemic, fiscal revenue will continue to decrease.