BEIJING -- China's tax revenue, a major source of the government's fiscal income, grew 9 percent year on year in the first three quarters, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) announced Monday.

During the January-September period, the government collected tax revenue totaling 8.44 trillion yuan ($1.38 trillion). The growth was 0.4 percentage points higher than the rate seen in the same period last year, the data showed.

The ministry attributed the steady growth to a low comparison base, improving economic strength, as well as the booming property market that has lifted related tax incomes.

China's economy has gradually emerged from a protracted slowdown this year, expanding 7.7 percent in the first nine months, in line with market expectations and above the government's full-year target of 7.5 percent.

The revenue from domestic value-added tax (VAT), a type of tax levied on the difference between a commodity's retail price and production cost, increased 8.2 percent to 2.08 trillion yuan, thanks in part to China's widening VAT reforms.

Consumption tax revenues saw slower growth in the first nine months, gaining merely 3.8 percent year on year due to a sluggish tobacco and alcohol market, the ministry said.

Turnover tax revenues grew 10.9 percent to 1.29 trillion yuan, retreating 1.2 percentage points from the first three quarters of last year, while growth for corporate and personal income tax moved up 14.3 percent and 10.8 percent, respectively.

Notably, the turnover taxes and deed taxes in the property sector surged 37.4 percent and 40.4 percent, respectively, on robust transactions.

Fiscal revenue in China includes taxes, administrative fees and other government income, including fines and earnings from state-owned assets.

Previous MOF data show that China's fiscal revenue expanded 8.6 percent from a year earlier to 9.84 trillion yuan in the first nine months amid the economic warm-up.