China's more proactive fiscal policy to continue delivering results in second half of 2026

China's more proactive fiscal policy will continue to take effect and deliver tangible results in the second half of the year, a senior Ministry of Finance official said at a State Council Information Office press conference in Beijing on Friday.

Vice Minister of Finance Liao Min said China has continuously enhanced the efficacy of its fiscal macro-regulation over the past five years, further demonstrating the role of public finance as a foundational and vital pillar of national governance.

From 2021 to 2025, national general public budget revenue totaled 106 trillion yuan, while expenditures reached 135 trillion yuan, both representing substantial increases compared to the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020).

"Since the beginning of this year, the Ministry of Finance has firmly implemented a more proactive fiscal policy. The budgeted fiscal expenditure for this year has exceeded 30 trillion yuan for the first time. The scale of newly issued government bonds has reached 11.89 trillion yuan, representing the largest effort in history. Central government transfer payments to local governments have exceeded 10 trillion yuan for the fourth consecutive year, reaching 10.42 trillion yuan," said Liao.

Moreover, China has continuously intensified efforts to safeguard and improve people's livelihoods this year. The national general public budget has allocated 12.4 trillion yuan for education, social security, healthcare, housing, and other areas, an increase of 5.4 percent over the previous year, which is one percentage point higher than the growth rate of total national general public budget expenditures.

Throughout the year, more than 44 million people are expected to receive basic living assistance, including subsistence allowances and support for individuals facing extreme difficulties.

Support and services for the elderly and children have become more robust. This year, dedicated funds have been arranged to support free influenza vaccinations for rural residents aged 65 and above.

More than 25 million infants and their families received parenting subsidies in 2026, while about 24 million kindergarten children benefited from waived tuition and nursery fees for their final year of preschool.

In the second half of the year, fiscal policy will continue to deliver results by accelerating the use of funds, intensifying efforts to expand domestic demand, and strengthening fiscal reform and management.

"In addition, regarding incremental policies, in the second half of the year, based on the operating conditions of the macroeconomy, the Ministry of Finance will promptly plan and introduce practical and effective incremental policies to provide strong support for achieving an effective improvement in the quality of the economy and reasonable growth in its quantity," said Liao.

China's more proactive fiscal policy to continue delivering results in second half of 2026

Yemen's Houthi group said that it had carried out multiple attacks on Saudi and Saudi-led coalition targets, while the Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted a Houthi missile, and Yemeni government forces reported operations against the group on several fronts.

In a statement released early Thursday, the Houthis said they used a surface-to-air missile to hit a Saudi Typhoon fighter jet. The aircraft, they said, had taken off from Saudi Arabia's Taif Air Base and was hit over Yemen's Sa'adah Province. Saudi Arabia has not yet responded to the claim.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Houthis said they launched a large-scale attack using ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones against oil facilities of energy giant Saudi Aramco in Dhahran in eastern Saudi Arabia, as well as King Khalid International Airport and a Saudi Aramco refinery in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.

The Houthis said in a separate statement released Wednesday evening that the group had fired one more ballistic missile at King Khalid International Airport and launched three ballistic missiles at Saudi-led coalition targets in southern Yemen.

Turki al-Maliki, spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition, said on Wednesday that they had intercepted and destroyed a Houthi ballistic missile fired toward Riyadh. Saudi Arabia's General Directorate of Civil Defense said in a statement on Wednesday that fragments from the intercepted missile fell in Riyadh, injuring one person.

Meanwhile, the Houthi-run al-Masirah TV reported that late on Wednesday the Saudi-led coalition carried out an airstrike on a residential building in the Al Maravi'ah area of Hodeidah province, which is under Houthi control. Early on Thursday, al-Masirah also reported that Yemen's capital, Sanaa, had come under Saudi attack.

According to a Houthi statement issued on Wednesday evening, the Saudi-led coalition launched 42 airstrikes and missile attacks on Houthi-controlled areas in the previous 24 hours. The Houthis said that Saudi attacks on islands in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait directly threatened the safety of maritime shipping routes.

Separately, Yemeni government forces said on Wednesday that they continued to strike Houthi targets and personnel on the eastern and southern fronts.

Yemen has been mired in conflict since late 2014, when the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa and much of northern Yemen, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene in 2015 in support of the Yemeni government.

Houthis, Saudi-led coalition report fresh military actions against each other