China saw steady growth in general public budget revenue and spending in the first four months of 2026, according to the data released by the Ministry of Finance on Wednesday.
The data showed that general public budget revenue in the four months totaled 8.34 trillion yuan (about 1.16 trillion U.S. dollars), up 3.5 percent year on year, 1.1 percentage points higher than that in the first quarter.
General public budget revenue totaled 6.81 trillion yuan, up 3.9 percent year on year, 1.7 percentage points higher than in the first quarter.
Specifically, the domestic value-added tax increased by 5.9 percent year on year. Driven by the continued growth of the industrial service sector and recovery of producer prices for industrial products, the tax has registered growth for three consecutive months.
In addition, active trading in the stock market has driven up the stamp duty on securities transactions by 74.8 percent, while 954 billion yuan was refunded for value-added tax and consumption tax on exported goods, an increase of 43 billion yuan from the same period last year, up 4.7 percent.
General public budget spending in the four months increased by 1.3 percent year on year to 9.48 trillion yuan (about 132.5 billion U.S. dollars), accounting for 31.6 percent of the initial budget for the year and marking the fastest spending rate within five years.
Specifically, spending on health increased by 11.4 percent, mainly due to a significant rise in childcare subsidies and fiscal subsidies to basic medical insurance funds, while spending on social security and employment increased by 7.3 percent, and spending on housing security increased by 4.9 percent.
"From these data about the revenue and spending, we can see the integrated effect of existing policies and new ones, which is driving the sustained improvement of the economy," Shi Yinghua, director of the Research Center on Macroeconomic Theory and Policy at the Chinese Academy of Fiscal Sciences.
China sees steady growth in general public budget revenue, spending in Jan-April
The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday called on all parties to conflict to comply with their obligations under international law to protect civilians.
The call came as the Security Council held its annual day-long open debate on the protection of civilians in armed conflict. At the debate, the Security Council was briefed that while civilians continue to suffer because parties to the conflict choose to ignore their legal obligation to protect them, adhering to the rules of war and enforcing accountability when they are broken can produce a different result.
Edem Wosornu, director of the Crisis Response Division in the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said one civilian was killed approximately every 14 minutes in 2025.
"Protecting civilians in armed conflict is not charity. It is the minimum that humanity and civilian civilization require. It is central to peace and security. It is the responsibility of this Council and of every Member State that signed the United Nations Charter, and it is what many people around the world expect the Member States of the United Nations to do. It cannot be outsourced. It cannot be postponed. It cannot be diluted. It is the choice we have to make now," said Wosornu.
The United Nations recorded over 37,000 civilian deaths across 20 armed conflicts last year, compared to the 36,000 civilian deaths recorded across 14 armed conflicts in 2024.
Addressing the debate, Mirjana Spoljaric, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, said "Wars fought without rules transform wars between combatants into wars against civilians. In recent weeks, I have undertaken several missions to the Middle East, where the impact of conflict on civilians is painfully clear. But brutal patterns of warfare are becoming pervasive across regions from the Middle East to the Horn of Africa, to eastern Europe, and beyond. We can no longer pretend that what we are witnessing across war zones is in accordance with the law."
Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, said at the debate that civilians are the biggest victims of armed conflict, underlining the need to promote the political settlement of hotspot issues and eliminate the threat of violence to security.
It is an obligation that all parties must fulfill in accordance with international humanitarian law, he said, adding that any double standards or selective application are unacceptable.
"The world today is rife with turmoil and escalating conflicts, claiming countless innocent lives and tearing families apart. The secretary-general's report indicates that more than 20 conflicts worldwide this year have resulted in at least 37,000 civilian deaths and displaced over 100 million people. This harsh reality once again warns us that we must act with greater urgency and stronger measures to protect civilians," said Fu.
UN Security Council calls on all parties to conflict to protect civilians
