AsianFin--China's fiscal revenue fell 2.8% year on year to 11.59 trillion yuan (about US$1.62 trillion) in the first half of 2024 (H1), according to data released Monday by the Ministry of Finance.

However, after accounting for the impacts of a higher base due to deferred tax payments for small and medium-sized enterprises in the same period last year and the carryover effects of the tax reduction policy introduced mid-last year, fiscal revenue in H1 grew by approximately 1.5% year on year, the ministry said in a statement.

A breakdown of the data showed that the central government collected around 5 trillion yuan in fiscal revenue, down 7.2% year on year, while local governments collected 6.59 trillion yuan, up 0.9%, according to the statement.