Beijing's budget revenue rises 2.6% in H1

Beijing's economy showed continued stability and growth in the first half of 2025, driving a 2.6% increase in municipal budget revenue that maintained the city's top position nationwide for revenue quality, local officials said Wednesday.

Han Jie, director of the Beijing Municipal Finance Bureau, told the city legislature that general public budget revenue reached 357.12 billion yuan ($50 billion) in the first six months, exceeding the half-year target by 3.9 percentage points.

All three main tax categories posted positive growth, with tax revenue accounting for 87.3% of total revenue, the highest rate nationwide, Han said during his report to the 18th session of the Standing Committee of the 16th Beijing Municipal People's Congress.

The figures reflect Beijing's sustained economic momentum and high-quality fiscal performance, officials said.

Key economic sectors drove the fiscal growth. Scientific and technological services posted a 13.4% increase in tax revenue, while information services grew 7.7%.

On the spending front, Beijing's general public budget expenditures totaled 459 billion yuan, surpassing the half-year target by 4.6 percentage points. The city allocated more than 80% of its budget to public welfare, prioritizing livelihood and development programs.

Spending also increased across key areas, including science and technology, education, health care, culture and sports, social security, employment and urban-rural development.

Science and technology investment rose to 58.49 billion yuan, up 3.5% and ranking among the nation's highest both in scale and proportion of total spending, officials said.

Eight newly established government investment funds deployed 18.86 billion yuan across 212 projects, leveraging about 72.8 billion yuan in private capital to support high-tech and advanced manufacturing industries.

The city also strengthened budget oversight, expanding pre-spending evaluations to all major new projects and cutting 1.22 billion yuan from 214 projects.