BEIJING, April 24 (Reuters) - China’s fiscal spending rose 2.6% in the first quarter from a year earlier, accelerating from a 1% increase in 2025, the finance ministry said on Friday, as Beijing steps up support for economic growth amid rising global risks caused by the Middle East conflict.
Fiscal expenditure in the January–March period totalled 7.47 trillion yuan ($1.09 trillion), while fiscal revenue grew 2.4% from a year earlier to 6.16 trillion yuan, the ministry said.
First‑quarter fiscal spending accounted for 24.9% of annual budgeted expenditure - the highest in recent years - a finance ministry official told a media briefing, as authorities pledged to boost government outlays to help meet this year’s economic growth target.
At an agenda-setting meeting last month, Chinese policymakers vowed to continue a "more proactive" fiscal policy for 2026, promising record public spending, government bond issuance and transfers to local government.
Government land sales revenue fell 24.4% over the first three months from a year earlier, the ministry also said.
Revenue from land sales by local governments was down 25.2% on the year over the first two months of 2026, following a 14.7% contraction in 2025.
Local governments have previously relied on the sales of land-use rights to property developers as a major source of revenue. A prolonged property market downturn that started in mid-2021 has continued to strain local government finances.
($1 = 6.8377 Chinese yuan renminbi)
Reporting by Yukun Zhang and Kevin Yao; Writing by Beijing Newsroom Editing by Tomasz Janowski
Source: Reuters