rose 16.9 percent from a year earlier to 918.8 billion yuan (US$144.8 billion) while its fiscal expenditure jumped 24.5 percent on an annual basis to 807.9 billion yuan, according to data released by the Ministry of Finance on its website yesterday.

But the growth in October fell from September's 17.3 percent, according to the ministry.

The slower growth is blamed on an easing economic expansion, new personal income tax rules and a drop in taxes collected from property transactions, the ministry said.

Revenue from personal income tax dropped 3.1 percent year on year to 35.24 billion yuan.

The government collected a fiscal revenue of 9.09 trillion yuan for the first 10 months of this year, up 28.1 percent from a year earlier. Its fiscal expenditure in the period rose an annual 27.2 percent to 7.76 trillion yuan.