China's fiscal revenue growth slowed to 3.8 percent in 2019 amid downward economic pressure and a sharp decline in tax revenue growth, missing the target of 5 percent that the government set at the beginning of last year.

Fiscal revenue totaled 19.04 trillion yuan (about 2.72 trillion U.S. dollars) last year, data from the Ministry of Finance showed Monday. The pace of growth fell from the rise of 6.2 percent registered in 2018.

The finance ministry attributed the slowdown to the country's policies to cut taxes and fees, which would top 2.3 trillion yuan in 2019 and benefit the manufacturing industry and small businesses in particular.

The country's tax revenue totaled 15.8 trillion yuan last year, up 1 percent from 2018. That was compared with a rise of 8.3 percent recorded in 2018.

Revenue from value-added tax, the largest fiscal revenue source in the country, rose 1.3 percent year on year in 2019, sharply down from an increase of 9.1 percent in 2018.

A breakdown showed the central government collected 8.93 trillion yuan in fiscal revenue, up 4.5 percent year on year, while local governments saw fiscal revenue expand 3.2 percent to 10.11 trillion yuan last year.

Tax-and-fee reduction campaign to continue in 2020

The ministry said the country will continue to consolidate and expand the effect of its tax-and-fee reduction policies in 2020, especially to help mitigate the impact of the novel coronavirus outbreak on its economy.

Monday's data also showed the country's fiscal spending in 2019 rose 8.1 percent to 23.89 trillion yuan, as the country increased inputs in poverty alleviation, technological innovation, environmental protection as well as the agricultural sector.