BEIJING — China's fiscal revenue in the first seven months of the year came in at 11.47 trillion yuan ($1.66 trillion), down 8.7 percent year-on-year, official data showed on Aug 19.

Tax revenue in the January-July period fell 8.8 percent from a year earlier to reach 9.85 trillion yuan. Revenue from value-added tax, the largest fiscal revenue source in the country, fell 17 percent year-on-year, according to data released by the Ministry of Finance.

A breakdown showed the central government collected nearly 5.36 trillion yuan in fiscal revenue during the seven-month period, down 11.3 percent year-on-year, while local governments saw fiscal revenue drop by 6.2 percent to nearly 6.12 trillion yuan.

The data also showed the country's fiscal spending fell 3.2 percent from a year earlier to 13.35 trillion yuan during the period.