25.08.202623:40:18UTC+00China Fiscal Spending Up 1.3% in Jan-Jul

China’s general public budget expenditure rose 1.3% year-on-year to CNY 16.29 trillion in the first seven months of 2026. Central government spending increased 6.2% to CNY 2.48 trillion, while local government expenditure edged up 0.5% to CNY 13.81 trillion, underscoring that fiscal support continued to be driven primarily by the central authorities.

By major expenditure category, healthcare posted the fastest growth, expanding 9.8%. It was followed by social security and employment (+7%), interest payments on government debt (+5.2%), science and technology (+1.5%), and education (+0.7%). In contrast, spending declined on energy conservation and environmental protection (-11.9%), agriculture, forestry and water conservancy (-6.8%), culture, tourism, sports and media (-6.9%), transportation (-2.5%), and urban and rural community development (-2.9%).