The fiscal revenue of China will surpass five trillion yuan (US$602
billion) in the ninth five-year plan period (1996-2000), a government
spokesman said Tuesday.
The figure will more than double that for the 1991-1995 period
to represent an average annual growth rate of 14 percent, said Wang
Jun, spokesman for the Ministry of Finance, at a press conference
sponsored by the State Council's Information Office.
According to Wang, the ratio of the fiscal revenue to gross domestic
product (GDP) rose from 10.7 percent in 1995 to 13.9 percent in
1999, and is expected to top 14.5 percent this year, reversing the
successive decline before 1996.
China has further improved the structure of its fiscal expenditures
with more money put in infrastructure and social security since
it began to implement the ninth five-year plan in 1996.
Government fiscal spending is expected to grow at an average annual
rate of more than 16 percent in the five years ending this year,
Wang said.
According to him, the Ministry of Finance will focus on four important
tasks in the tenth five-year plan from 2001 to 2005.
The first task is to give full play to the fiscal policies and
tax leverages to guide and promote economic restructuring and ensure
a stable growth in the nation's fiscal revenue and economy.
The second is to deepen the reform of the fiscal and taxation system
in line with the requirements for China's accession to the World
Trade Organization for the step-by-step establishment of the framework
of a public fiscal system.
The third is to strengthen the management and collecting of taxes
so as to gradually expand the share of fiscal revenue in GDP and
the share of the central revenue in the nation's total revenue.
The fourth task is to strengthen expenditure management so as to
guarantee input in such sectors as agriculture, education, science
and social security.
(People's Daily 10/18/2000)
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