THE city’s fiscal revenue reached 942.4 billion yuan (US$135 billion) in 2019, an increase of 3.5 percent over the previous year, Tang Shukui, director of the city’s finance bureau, said at a news conference Monday.

Tang said the financial departments in 2019 smoothly reached the targets set at the Seventh Session of the Sixth Shenzhen Municipal People’s Congress last January.

Budgetary expenditure in 2019 was 455.1 billion yuan, an increase of 6.2 percent over the previous year. In 2019, the city reduced taxes and fees by 110 billion yuan, accounting for 4 percent of the city’s GDP, to relieve the burdens on business entities and improve the business environment. The expenditure in education and health increased by 22.6 percent and 19.2 percent to 71.6 billion yuan and 33.5 billion yuan respectively over 2018.

In 2020, the city government will set an example for having a thrifty life by cutting 900 million yuan in expenditures, except for expenses in education, health, technology, grain and oil reserves. The budget for official expenses on overseas trips, vehicle procurement and receptions will be further cut by 3 percent and administrative expenses for products and services will be reduced by 10 percent.

In 2020, the city will increase expenditure in education by 18.2 percent to 32.4 billion yuan. The expenditure in public health will increase by 23.1 percent to 18.9 billion yuan.

For infrastructure, livelihood services, ecological construction and industrial innovation, the city will allocate 62 billion yuan. The city will offer 3.6 billion yuan in subsidies for electricity use by industrial and commercial entities and allocate 13.4 billion yuan to support science research, of which 39 percent will be used in basic research and applied basic research.    (Han Ximin)