A breakdown of China's government revenue and tax history over nearly 75 years

This chart shows China's government revenues from taxes and other sources during 1952–2024. The overall level of revenues averaged about 30 percent of GDP before China's then-leader Deng Xiaoping's 1978 "Reform and Opening Up" policies. Revenues declined sharply thereafter in the 1980s, increased sharply from the mid-1990s, reaching a peak of about 28.5 percent of GDP in 2015. When adding land sales and retained profits from state-owned enterprises (SOE), revenues peaked at 39 percent in 2018. T

Source: Peterson Institute (PIIE)