(Yicai Global) Jan. 19 -- Beijing’s fiscal revenue came in at CNY93.1 billion (USD14.7 billion) last year amid a steady recovery in the economy, an outstanding performance by key industries, including Covid-19 vaccine makers, and the relatively low-budgeted revenue at the year’s start, according to a report from the city government.

The Chinese capital’s general public budget revenue was CNY593.2 billion in 2021, an annual increase of 8.1 percent, with an excess revenue of CNY28.39 billion, the report published today said. The gain was mainly due to the sound development trend in the financial, real estate, wholesale and retail sectors as well as information technology services, manufacturing and vaccine businesses.

The report showed that Beijing’s fiscal revenue in the IT industry surged 33.1 percent last year, with corresponding revenue in the wholesale and retail industry as well as the business service industry rising by 25.1 percent and 13 percent, respectively. Rapid growth in the business of Covid-19 vaccine developers drove the fiscal take from the pharmaceutical sector 1.8 times higher.

Beijing is home to all of China’s Covid-19 vaccine developers. Sinovac Life Sciences, a unit of Sinovac Biotech, and Beijing Institute of Biological Products under China National Pharmaceutical Group, or Sinopharm, collectively contributed an output value of CNY236.3 billion (USD37.2 billion) in the first 11 months of last year. The pharmaceutical sector’s value-added also almost quadrupled, per the data.

The revenue of local government funds mainly consisted of income from land, the report said. The funds’ budget revenue hit about CNY270.6 billion, up about 16.8 percent over the previous year, with the corresponding excess portion being CNY63.4 billion, due to the continuous increase of land.

Beijing’s general public budget revenue is expected to be about CNY617 billion (USD97.2 billion) this year, growing by 4 percent, less than predicted growth in gross domestic product of 5 percent, the report noted. 

It cited uncertainties about the global Covid-19 pandemic, coupled with the possible decline in vaccine demand and prices, as well as the pressure faced by the real estate sector along with tax cuts and fee reductions.

Editors: Zhang Yushuo, Peter Thomas