China's fiscal spending increased 1.5% year-on-year to CNY 14.33 trillion in the first half of 2026. Central government expenditure rose 6.5% to CNY 2.12 trillion, while local government spending increased 0.6% to CNY 12.21 trillion, indicating that fiscal support continued to be led by the central government. Among major spending categories, healthcare recorded the strongest growth, rising 10.8%, followed by social security and employment (+7.6%), debt interest payments (+4.5%), science and technology (+1.3%), and education (+0.6%). Meanwhile, expenditure declined on energy conservation and environmental protection (-10.3%), agriculture, forestry and water conservancy (-8.6%), culture, tourism, sports and media (-6.4%), transportation (-2.6%), and urban and rural communities (-2.0%).