China fiscal revenue up 14.1% in first quarter

BEIJING — China's fiscal revenue rose 14.1 percent year-on-year to 4.44 trillion yuan ($645.9 billion) in the first quarter, according to the Ministry of Finance Friday.

The growth retreated from the 14.9-percent gain seen in the January-February period.

In March alone, fiscal revenue went up 12.2 percent to 1.29 trillion yuan.

In the first three months, fiscal spending surged 21 percent year-on-ear to 4.59 trillion yuan.

This year the fiscal deficit is projected to be 3 percent of GDP, or 2.38 trillion yuan, according to a government work report last month.