Unprecedented 66% drop in air passengers in 2020: airlines

21:23, February 03, 2021

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  China sees less Spring Festival travel amid epidemic control

  Passengers wait for trains at Harbin Railway Station in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- The number of passenger trips dropped by 75.2 percent year on year to 17.

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  Macao's merchandise export drops 15.5 pct in 2020

  5 percent year on year to 10.81 billion patacas (about 1.The latest report from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) showed that the value of re-exports dropped by 18.

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  China's 2020 public health spending surges despite fiscal revenue drop

  Staff members work at a workshop of a medical supply company in Harbin, northeast Chinas Heilongjiang Province, Jan. 27, 2021. (Photo: Xinhua)Chinas public health fiscal expenditure surged in 2020 amid efforts to fight COVID-19, despite lower fiscal revenue compared to 2019, official data showed on Thursday.While the central government has been asking both central and local authorities to tighten their belts by reducing general spending, more money was spent in crucial areas, with total expenditure on public health rising 15.2 percent from a year earlier to 1.9 trillion yuan (about 293 billion U.S. dollars).In particular, the countrys direct spending on the fight against COVID-19 surged 74.9 percent, according to the Ministry of Finance (MOF).This came as the countrys total fiscal revenue decreased 3.9 percent year on year to around 18.29 trillion yuan. Fiscal spending expanded 2.8 percent to around 24.56 trillion yuan.Last year, the central government collected about 8.28 trillion yuan in revenue, down 7.3 percent year on year, while local governments saw revenue fall 0.9 percent to about 10 trillion yuan.Tax revenue, the largest contributor to fiscal revenue, saw a 2.3 percent year-on-year drop to 15.43 trillion yuan.Since the outbreak of the epidemic, China has implemented a slew of new tax and fee relief measures to alleviate the burdens on market entities, particularly on small firms.A breakdown of the data shows revenue from domestic value-added tax went down 8.9 percent to about 5.68 trillion yuan, while revenue from domestic consumption tax dropped 4.3 percent to 1.2 trillion yuan.In 2020, around 90 percent of over 50 million small firm taxpayers in the country were exempted from value-added tax, while the rest saw their tax rate lowered from 3 percent to 1 percent, said the MOF.Revenue from individual income tax rose 11.4 percent year on year to 1.16 trillion yuan in the period.Revenue from value-added tax and consumption tax on imported...