April 24 - China's fiscal activity showed a notable uptick in the first quarter as Beijing stepped up government outlays to support the economy. Fiscal expenditure for January through March increased 2.6% from the same period a year earlier, accelerating from a 1% rise reported in 2025, the finance ministry said on Friday.
Total fiscal spending in the quarter reached 7.47 trillion yuan. On the receipts side, fiscal revenue expanded 2.4% year-on-year to 6.16 trillion yuan for the period.
A finance ministry official told a media briefing that first-quarter spending accounted for 24.9% of the annual budgeted expenditure - the highest such proportion in recent years - as authorities committed to raising government outlays to help achieve this year’s economic growth target.
Policymakers signalled continuity in an active fiscal stance at an agenda-setting meeting held last month. Officials vowed to pursue a "more proactive" fiscal policy for 2026 and pledged record public spending, increased government bond issuance and larger transfers to local governments.
At the same time, revenues tied to land sales continued to fall. Government income from land sales declined 24.4% over the first three months compared with a year earlier, the finance ministry also reported. The ministry noted that revenue from land sales by local governments was down 25.2% on the year over the first two months of 2026, following a 14.7% contraction in 2025.
Local governments have long depended on proceeds from selling land-use rights to property developers as a key revenue source. The prolonged downturn in the property market that began in mid-2021 has continued to weigh on local government finances.
($1 = 6.8377 Chinese yuan renminbi)
Context and implications
The data show Beijing deliberately front-loading fiscal support by increasing the share of annual budgeted spending in the first quarter. Combined with plans for larger government bond issues and higher transfers to local authorities, the approach indicates an effort to offset mounting downside risks stemming from weak land-sale receipts and a still-strained property sector.
Details on the timing, size and composition of the additional bond issuance and transfers were not provided in the finance ministry's statements cited above.