China's fiscal revenue growth slows in August

China's fiscal revenue increased at a slower pace in August amid government measures to cut taxes and fees, official data showed Wednesday.

Fiscal revenue rose 4 percent year on year to 1.11 trillion yuan (about 161 billion U.S. dollars) in August, slowing from the 6.1-percent gain in July, according to the Ministry of Finance.

The central government's fiscal revenue totaled 516.6 billion yuan, up 1.2 percent year on year, while local governments' fiscal revenue increased by 6.6 percent year on year, reaching 591.1 billion yuan, the ministry said.

In the first eight months of 2018, China saw its fiscal revenue rise 9.4 percent year on year to 13.3 trillion yuan, slowing from a 10-percent gain in the first seven months.

China has been actively cutting taxes and non-tax fees in a bid to reduce the corporate burden and bolster the real economy, with recently announced measures that are expected to lower the tax burden on businesses by more than 45 billion yuan this year.

Wednesday's data also showed that China's fiscal spending went up 3.3 percent year on year to 1.51 trillion yuan in August.

In the first eight months, fiscal spending expanded 6.9 percent year on year to 14.1 trillion yuan, accounting for 67 percent of the planned budget for the year.