China's tax revenue hit an all-time high of 1.03 trillion yuan in 1999, the State Administration of Taxation (SAT) announced in Beijing on January 11.

The amount is 122 billion yuan more than that of 1998, up 13.4 percent, SAT's director Jin Renqing said at a news conference held by the Information Office of the State Council.

The tax revenue for the Central Government rose 15 percent to hit 578.5 billion yuan. That for local governments increased by 12percent to 452.7 billion yuan.

The revenue from domestic value-added tax and consumption tax was 484.6 billion yuan, up six percent from 1998.

Jin attributed the tax revenue increase to the stable growth of the economy and the pick-up of export and enterprises' performance, resulting from the government's policies to stimulate the economy.

In 1999, tax became an important tool used by the government inits macroeconomic adjustment. It increased the tax rebate for export, resumed personal income tax on residents' banking deposits and cut the fixed asset investment directory tax by half.

In the past year, the tax rebate for export enterprises totaled62.8 billion yuan, up 44 percent from 1998. Jin said this has had a positive impact on China's export growth.

The government's efforts to crack down on smuggling and increased demand for imported products as a result of the government's policies to stimulate domestic demands have resulted in a 78-percent gain in tariff revenue, which totaled 103.9 billion yuan, Jin said.

China's expanding securities market also contributed to the remarkable tax revenue increase. Statistics show that revenue from stamp tax on securities transactions rose by 19 percent in 1999 tohit 24.5 billion yuan.

The taxation department's efforts to improve its collection and examination also paid off. It is estimated this has resulted in a 16.5-billion-yuan increase in the nation's tax revenue.

In 1999, the tax authorities collected 10 billion yuan in back taxes, compared to 20 billion yuan a year before. Nevertheless, Jin said 30 billion yuan in arrears remains to be collected.

While admitting that China's tax revenue has been increasing at a speed higher than the growth of the economy over recent years, Jin denied that his department has gone too far in its job, saying that the opposite is true and plenty more needs to be done.

Though state-owned enterprises (SOEs) are still the most important sources of tax revenue for China, Jin said that doesn't mean that the SOEs are paying higher taxes. In fact, he said, all the enterprises, except foreign-fund enterprises, are paying the same tax rates.

He denied that further efforts on tax collection by his department would have a negative impact on the country's SOE reforms. (Xinhua)