BEIJING — China's fiscal revenue went down 9.9 percent year-on-year to 3.52 trillion yuan (about $496.2 billion) in the first two months of 2020, official data showed on March 24.

The central government collected 1.72 trillion yuan in fiscal revenue, down 11.2 percent year-on-year, while local governments saw fiscal revenue dip 8.6 percent to about 1.8 trillion yuan during the January-February period, according to data released by the Ministry of Finance (MOF).

In breakdown, revenue from domestic value-added tax in the period slid 19 percent from one year earlier to about 1.17 trillion yuan, while that from domestic consumption tax stood at 334.6 billion yuan, down 10 percent from a year earlier, according to the ministry.

Revenue from individual income tax climbed 14.8 percent year-on-year to 267.2 billion yuan during the period. Revenue from value-added tax and consumption tax on imported goods dropped 25.1 percent to 220.8 billion yuan, while that from tariffs declined 14.3 percent to 39.1 billion yuan.

China's fiscal spending inched down 2.9 percent year-on-year to around 3.24 trillion yuan during the period, MOF data showed.

The central government spent a total of 426.9 billion yuan in the first two months, up 4.7 percent from the same period last year, while local governments' spending edged down 3.9 percent year-on-year to 2.8 trillion yuan.

Amid the country's efforts to contain the novel coronavirus outbreak, expenditure on health saw double-digit growth, up 22.7 percent year on year, and spending on social security and employment also logged a 2.5-percent expansion from the same period last year.

China's fiscal revenue climbed 3.8 percent year-on-year to 19.04 trillion yuan last year, a slower growth pace compared with 2018 as the country launched massive tax and fee cuts to support economic growth, thus resulting in a sharp decline in its tax revenue growth.