China's tax revenue, excluding tariffs and agricultural tax, rose to a record high of 3.0866 trillion yuan (US$381 billion) in 2005, up 20 percent year on year, tax authorities said on Tuesday.

The State Administration of Taxation said the figure represented an increase of 514.8 billion yuan over the previous year.

In a statement released in Beijing on the sidelines of a press conference held by the Information Office of the State Council, the administration attributed the rapid growth to stable and rapid national economic growth.

The increase in tax revenue is in line with the country's economic development, it said.

Revenues from domestic value-added tax, consumption tax and sales tax accounted for 49.5 percent of the increase.

Total income tax revenues from domestic and overseas-funded firms, and individuals contributed 34.8 percent to the overall tax revenue.

Tax revenues from east China, the country's richest area, amounted to 2.1834 trillion yuan, up 19.2 percent, or 70.7 percent of the total, while revenues from central China stood at 481.7 billion yuan, up 22.4 percent year on year and accounting for 15.6 percent of the total.

West China registered 421.5 billion yuan in taxation revenues, up 21.7 percent, accounting for 13.7 percent of the country's total.

(Xinhua News Agency January 17, 2006)