Brief Introduction

I. Main Content and Source of Data

The data in this chapter show the government revenue and expenditure. The data come from the departments of finance. The data are based on the final state financial accounts, the final accounts of extra-budgetary revenue and expenditure and the concerned financial reports.

The final state financial accounts are composed of the final accounts at the level of central government and the total final accounts at the level of local governments. The total final accounts at the level of local governments are composed of the total final accounts of the governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government. The total final accounts at the provincial (autonomous region, municipality directly under the central government) level are composed of the final accounts at the provincial level and the total final accounts at the level of governments of prefectures and counties (cities).

The final accounts at the central level, at the provincial level and at the county (city) level are respectively composed of the final accounts of the administrative and institutional units, the final financial accounts of enterprises, final financial accounts of capital construction, annual reports on treasury and annual reports on tax revenue, pooled together by the responsible departments at the same level.

In order to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the data of final accounts, the financial departments at different levels should check the budgetary data of the higher and lower levels of the whole year before the end of the year, including the related figures of the total government budgets between different levels, the related figures between the government total budget and the budgets of the departments and the related figures between the budget of the departments and the budgets of the subordinate units. After the end of the year, the financial departments of different levels and the state treasury should check the data of the revenue in the final accounts together with the units which hand over the budget, filled out the accounts checking sheet, made signatures and reported to the higher authorities respectively.

In order to ensure the consistency in the coverage of the final accounts, the Ministry of Finance works out and issues the final accounts forms for the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government and the final accounts forms for the departments at the central level. The financial departments at various levels and the central government departments should also work out and issue the final accounts forms in the light of the specific conditions of the department to the departments or units at the lower level. The final account forms are designed in accordance with the composition of the state final account and are composed of the total final accounts forms suitable for the financial departments of different levels and the unit final accounts forms suitable for the budgetary agencies of the responsible departments or units. The data for the final accounts are filled out in accordance with the data in the account books of the total budget or unit budget.

Data on the government revenue and expenditure are compiled on the basis of information from the total final accounts table of the revenue and expenditure, the subsidiary table of the final accounts of the revenue, and the subsidiary table of the final accounts of the expenditure.

The procedures for the compilation of the extra-budgetary revenue and expenditure and the related financial tables are basically the same as those for the compilation of the state final accounts.

II. Change of Statistical Coverage and Data Adjustment

Owing to the changes in financial system and in the methods of compiling and listing the items of the budget, the coverage of the government revenue and expenditure and their breakdowns are not consistent over the years. In view of the above situation, the concerned data in this yearbook have been adjusted so as to make them basically comparable over the years. The main adjusted items are as follows:

 (1) Government revenue. The revenues from the domestic and foreign debts in 1993 and the previous years are deducted from the government revenue and no longer listed as the component of the government revenue. The financial subsidies for the price adjustment in 1978-1985 were listed formerly as an item to eat up part of the government revenue and are now listed as an item of government expenditure. Correspondingly, the original item revenue from debts under the government revenue by item is cancelled

(2) Government expenditure. The expenditures for repayment of the principal and interest of the domestic and foreign debts in 1993 and the previous years are deducted from the government expenditure and no longer listed as the component of the government expenditure. The financial subsidies on the price adjustment in 1978-1985 were listed formerly as an item to eat up part of the government revenue and are now listed as an item of government expenditure. Correspondingly, the original item expenditure for debts under the government expenditure by account item and the government expenditure by general categories is canceled; the expenditure for capital construction under the government expenditure by account item no longer includes the expenditure for capital construction as a result of the utilization of the foreign  loans; the related items under the government expenditure by general categories have also been adjusted. Total government expenditures include the payment for capital and its interest of domestic and foreign debts since 2000.

(3) Revenue and expenditure of the central government and local governments. According to the above-mentioned adjustments in the government revenue and expenditure, adjustments are also made in the revenue and expenditure of the central government correspondingly and in the revenue and expenditure of the local governments in a few years. The table on Total Revenue and Total Expenditure of the Central Government and Local Governments show the revenues and expenditures of the central government and local governments at the current years. The changes in the financial structure and in the subordinate relationship of the enterprises have the impact on the revenues and expenditures of the central government and local governments. However, no adjustments have been made in the data of the past years. In addition, there are also appropriate adaptations made in the specific conditions in the relationship between the central government and local governments: Sometimes some local governments hand certain amount of their funds over to the central government; Sometimes the central government pays subsidies to the difficult provinces and autonomous regions or send back parts of the tax revenue to the local government. Therefore the table on Total Revenue and Total Expenditure of the Central Government and Local Governments does not show the real financial strengths of the governments at different levels.

Data on the extra-budgetary funds have been collected in accordance with the statistical reporting scheme since 1982. Changes have been made in the items in the extra-budgetary revenue and the extra-budgetary expenditure several times. In 1993, new financial general rules and accounting standards were implemented. As a result, significant changes have been made again in the scope of extra-budgetary revenue and extra-budgetary expenditure. The innovation fund and the major repair fund in the state-owned enterprises were no longer listed as the extra-budgetary funds. Therefore the extra-budgetary revenues and the extra-budgetary expenditures in the years before 1993 and since 1993 are not comparable. Starting from 1997, government funds (revenue from fees) were reclassified into budget management and were not included in the extra-budgetary revenues. Therefore, figures since 1997 were not comparable with earlier figures.