In 2023, the national fiscal revenue exceeded 21 trillion yuan ($2.92 trillion), an increase of 6.4 percent from the previous year. The country's economic growth last year, 5.2 percent year-on-year, laid a solid base for that. That explains why the fiscal revenue of the 31 provincial-level regions all achieved positive growth last year.

The most important factor is the implementation of large-scale value-added tax rebates in 2022 that has lowered the tax base for last year. In 2023, the Chinese government's tax revenue was 18,113 billion yuan, an increase of 8.7 percent year-on-year, among which the value-added tax was 6,933.2 billion yuan, up 42.3 year-on-year.

In 2023, the national general public budget expenditure was 27.46 trillion yuan, up 5.4 percent from that of 2022, which reflects the enhanced effectiveness of the proactive fiscal policy that provides strong support for government finances at different levels.

An additional 1 trillion yuan of government bonds was issued in the fourth quarter to support post-disaster recovery and reconstruction and enhance disaster prevention, reduction and relief capabilities. That some the bonds are actually to be used this year creates more room for a proactive fiscal policy in 2024.

The scale of new tax cuts and rebates and fee reductions and deferrals across the country throughout 2023 exceeded 2.2 trillion yuan. That effectively eased the financial burden of enterprises.

The scale of special bonds reached 3.8 trillion yuan in 2023. These special tools proved important for the country to make breakthroughs in some key areas.

Local debt risks were also effectively prevented by resolving existing debts and curbing the increase in new debt.

Ensuring people's basic livelihoods, wages and public services has always been the priority of government expenditure. In 2023, the central fiscal transfer payment was further increased, reaching 10.29 trillion yuan, and was tilted towards the needy regions to help them make ends meet in the three fields.

In 2024, China will continue to implement a proactive fiscal policy, appropriately intensify its efforts, improve quality and efficiency, and carry out a new round of fiscal and taxation system reform. To this end, fiscal policy support and financial guarantees must be strengthened to promote the smooth circulation of the national economy.

21ST CENTURY BUSINESS HERALD