China’s general public budget expenditure increased 1% year-on-year to CNY 21.02 trillion in the first nine months of 2026, slowing from a rise of 1.2% in the first eight months and 3.1% in the same period of 2025. Central government expenditure climbed 5.8% to CNY 3.28 trillion, while local government spending increased 0.2% to CNY 17.74 trillion, indicating that fiscal support continued to be led by the central government. Among major spending categories, healthcare recorded the strongest growth, advancing 7.7%, followed by social security and employment (+5.2%), highlighting the country’s ongoing policy efforts to improve people’s livelihoods. Meanwhile, fiscal revenue grew 5.1% year-on-year to CNY 17.23 trillion, following a gain of 5.7% in the January–August period. During January–September, tax revenue grew 6.1%, while non-tax revenue advanced 1.2%.