BEIJING — China's fiscal revenue surged 18.7 percent year-on-year in the first two months of 2021, bouncing back from a 3.9-percent decline registered last year, official data showed on March 18.

The country's fiscal revenue totaled 4.18 trillion yuan (about $644.47 billion) during the January-February period, according to data released by the Ministry of Finance.

"The fast expansion of fiscal revenue in the first two months was mainly driven by China's steady economic recovery and a relatively low base during the same period a year earlier," said He Daixin, a researcher at the National Academy of Economic Strategy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Tax revenue came in at 3.7 trillion yuan in the first two months, up 18.9 percent year-on-year.

Revenue from value-added tax, the largest source of fiscal revenue in the country, jumped nearly 20 percent from a year earlier, while corporate income tax saw an increase of 13.2 percent.

A breakdown showed the central government and local governments collected 2.05 trillion yuan and 2.13 trillion yuan in fiscal revenue, respectively, during the two months, both rising 18.7 percent year-on-year.

The data released on March 18 also showed that China's fiscal spending went up 10.5 percent year-on-year to 3.57 trillion yuan in the first two months.

Fiscal spending for areas including science and technology, education, employment and public health saw substantial increases, according to the ministry.