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China's budget and public finances: Ministry of Finance sources

China's Ministry of Finance prepares the national budget presented to the National People's Congress each March and publishes monthly figures on fiscal revenue and expenditure, government debt quotas and final accounts. Fact-checkers use it for claims about China's deficit, tax revenue, special bonds and local government debt.

Release calendar

What it publishes

• The annual report on the execution of the previous year's budget and the draft budget for the current year.
• Monthly general public budget and government fund revenue and spending.
• Central government budgets and final accounts, and local government debt data.
• Government bond issuance plans, including special treasury bonds.

Key datasets

• Fiscal data index
  Monthly fiscal revenue and spending releases and budget documents (Chinese).
  Updated: Monthly
• 2026 budget report summary
  2025 outturn and 2026 budget plans.
  Updated: Annual (March)

APIs and downloads

• Ministry of Finance
  Budget documents and monthly releases as web pages and PDFs; no bulk API.

When it publishes

Monthly fiscal data are usually released in the middle of the following month. The budget report is delivered at the National People's Congress session in March.

How to use it to check a claim

1. Say which budget account a figure comes from: the general public budget, government funds, state capital operations or social insurance funds.
2. The headline deficit excludes special treasury bonds and local special bonds; add them for a fuller picture of borrowing.
3. For debt, distinguish official government debt from IMF estimates that include local financing vehicles.

Common mistakes

• The budget's 'total revenue' adds transfers from funds and carry-overs (2.05 trillion yuan in 2026) to revenue itself, so it is larger than the revenue figure.
• Year-on-year comparisons can be distorted by one-off items in the base year.

How do I request government information in China?

Under the State Council's Regulations on Open Government Information, revised in 2019, you apply to the government body that holds the information; it must reply within 20 working days, extendable by 20.

Questions answered using this source

• What is China's government budget and deficit?
• How much debt does the Chinese government have?

Links checked 14 October 2026. This page describes what the source publishes and gives no verdict on any claim.