BEIJING - China collected 5.94 trillion yuan ($969 billion) in taxes in the first half of this year, up 6.3 percent year on year, new data showed on Monday.

The growth pace was in line with the overall economic growth in the first six months, the State Administration of Taxation said in a statement.

It attributed the growth to China's economic recovery, which posted a better-than-expected growth of 7 percent in H1, thanks to the government's continued pro-growth policies and reform measures.

Tax collected from the tertiary industry grew by 6 percent, with its tax revenue accounting for 56 percent of the total in H1, while tax from the secondary industry rose 3.1 percent.

Tax collected from the financial sector posted a strong growth of 31.4 percent, the main driving force for the overall tax revenue growth.

In the same period, tax refunds for exported goods surged 12.4 percent to 656.5 billion yuan.