BEIJING, Sept. 15 -- China's general public budget revenue increased 10 percent year on year to 15.18 trillion yuan (2.11 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first eight months of this year, official data showed Friday.

The central government collected 6.97 trillion yuan in revenue, up 9.5 percent year on year, while local governments saw revenue increase 10.3 percent to 8.21 trillion yuan, said the Ministry of Finance.

Tax revenue totaled 12.79 trillion yuan in the first eight months, up 12.9 percent year on year.

The general public budget spending expanded 3.8 percent year on year to 17.14 trillion yuan in the first eight months.

The growth of fiscal revenue, driven by sustained economic recovery, is mainly due to the relatively lower base brought by the implementation of large-scale value-added tax retention and refund policies since April last year, according to the ministry.

General public budget revenue refers to income for government finance through participating in the distribution of social products. It is the financial guarantee to ensure government functioning.