China's tax revenue rose 21.7 percent during the first nine months of this year compared with a year ago, the State Administration of Taxation said Monday.

Tax revenue exclusive of agricultural tax and tariffs was 1.52 trillion yuan (US$183.1 billion) during the period, an increase of 271.6 billion yuan (US$32.7 billion) or 21.7 percent, the administration said.

Tax revenue rose 19.7 percent year-on-year in September to 157.8 billion yuan (US$19 billion).

Value-added tax rose 16.9 percent year-on-year to 542.6 billion yuan (US$65.4 billion) during the January-September period, the administration said.

Import tariffs rose 51.8 percent to 206.1 billion yuan (US$24.8 billion), while income tax from domestic companies rose 27.1 percent to 180.1 billion yuan (US$21.7 billion).

The three sources of tax contributed to about 70 percent to the increased revenue during the nine months, the administration said.

"The excellent tax revenue situation was mainly because of the country's sound economic development so far this year," it said.

China's economy rose 8.5 percent year-on-year during the first nine months, the National Bureau of Statistics said last week.

The government's efforts to improve tax collection also helped, the administration said.

Tax expert Zhang Peisen from the Taxation Research Institute said China's tax revenue for 2003 is likely to grow 13 percent compared with last year, in spite of the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) outbreak and the US-led war on Iraq.

China's tax revenue rose 12.1 percent year-on-year to 1.70 trillion yuan (US$204 billion) in 2002, according to figures from the State Administration of Taxation.

"China will witness faster growth in private investment this year," Zhang said.

Foreign direct investment will also grow steadily, he added.

A number of "hot consumption areas" such as housing, cars and education will continue to have a major impact on overall consumption, he said.

"The Chinese economy is expected to rise by between 7.5 percent and 8 percent in 2003," he said.

Sound economic development, companies' improving economic efficiency and the ending of tax favours enjoyed by some companies will lay solid foundations for the country's tax revenue growth, he said.

Meanwhile, the country will continue to increase efforts to collect tax by fighting tax evasion.

Ni Hongri, a senior researcher with the State Council's Development Research Centre, said: "If there are no unexpected events such as SARS and floods for the rest of this year, the country's tax revenue is expected to grow by between 15 percent and 20 percent."

(China Daily October 21, 2003)