China collected 898.8 billion (US$112.3 billion) in taxes in the first quarter of this year, up 18.9 percent year-on-year, the State Administration of Taxation reported Thursday

The figure, which excludes revenues from custom tariffs and the farming sector, represents an increase of 142.9 billion yuan over the same period of last year.

The administration attributed the steady increase of taxes to the country's rapid economic development.

Strict taxation enforcement also played a part, it said.

According to the administration, taxes from the country's economically-developed eastern part went up 19.3 percent, those from the central part increased by 18 percent, and the taxes from the less developed western part went up by 13.78 percent. Tax revenues from the eastern, central and western regions account for 70.5 percent, 15.7 percent and 13.7 percent of the country's total, respectively.

(Xinhua News Agency April 7, 2006)