BEIJING, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- China's fiscal revenue edged up 0.3 percent year on year to 14.82 trillion yuan (about 2.09 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first eight months of this year, according to data released by the Ministry of Finance on Wednesday.

The central government collected about 6.43 trillion yuan in fiscal revenue during the period, down 1.7 percent year on year, while local governments collected 8.39 trillion yuan, up 1.8 percent year on year.

In the first eight months, the country's tax revenue totaled 12.11 trillion yuan, edging up 0.02 percent year on year, while non-tax revenue increased 1.5 percent to 2.71 trillion yuan.

China's fiscal expenditure expanded 3.1 percent year on year to 17.93 trillion yuan in the first eight months. The central government's fiscal expenditure rose 8 percent year on year, and there was a 2.3 percent increase in local government expenditure during the same period.

Spending on education came in at approximately 2.71 trillion yuan, up 5.6 percent year on year. Science and technology expenditure reached 587.4 billion yuan, marking a 3.1 percent year-on-year increase. Spending on social security and employment stood at 3.07 trillion yuan, up 10 percent year on year. Enditem