China's monthly tax revenue has been increasing month-on-month since April, pointing to a recovery trend, the Ministry of Finance said on Friday.

"China's tax revenue reached 9.29 trillion yuan ($1.3 trillion) in the first half of the year, a 1.2 percent decline compared to the same period last year," Tang Longsheng, deputy director of the ministry's treasury payment center, told a press conference.

Since April, monthly tax revenue has maintained year-on-year growth for three consecutive months, with April growing by 1.9 percent, May by 0.6 percent and June by 1 percent, respectively, Tang added.

In the meantime, the growth of nontax revenue, which includes a wide range of sources such as administrative fees, fines and confiscations, returns on the use of State-owned assets and capital, has moderated in the first half of the year.

The market is closely monitoring the growth in nontax revenue because of the potential risks it poses to the business climate and market sentiment.

Tong noted that the nontax revenue totaled 2.27 trillion yuan ($316.67 billion) in the first six months, marking a year-on-year increase of 3.7 percent, which represents a moderation of 5.1 percentage points compared with the first quarter.

Specifically, nontax revenue in May and June dropped by 2.2 percent and 3.7 percent, respectively, Tang added.

"Fiscal expenditure has intensified, with key areas' spending well secured. In the first half of this year, national general public budget expenditure amounted to 14.13 trillion yuan ($1.97 trillion), marking a year-on-year increase of 3.4 percent," Tang said.

wangkeju@chinadaily.com.cn