BEIJING, Oct. 17 -- China's fiscal revenue edged up 0.5 percent year on year to 16.39 trillion yuan (about 2.31 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first nine months of 2025, according to data released by the Ministry of Finance on Friday.

The central government collected approximately 7.08 trillion yuan in fiscal revenue during the period, which was down 1.2 percent year on year, and local governments collected 9.3 trillion yuan, up 1.8 percent.

In the first nine months, the country's tax revenue totaled 13.27 trillion yuan, edging up 0.7 percent year on year, while its non-tax revenue decreased 0.4 percent to 3.12 trillion yuan.

China's fiscal expenditure expanded 3.1 percent year on year to 20.8 trillion yuan during the period. The central government's fiscal expenditure rose 7.3 percent, and there was a 2.4 percent increase in local government expenditure.

Spending on education came in at approximately 3.16 trillion yuan, up 5.4 percent year on year. Science and technology expenditure totaled 710.5 billion yuan -- a 6.5 percent increase. Spending on social security and employment came in at 3.49 trillion yuan, up 10 percent.