Recently, the Ministry of Finance announced the financial revenue and expenditure for the first five months of this year. Data shows that from January to May, the national general public budget expenditure was 1.13877 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 0.8%, continuing to grow. While maintaining overall stable growth, the optimization of expenditure structure deserves more attention - science and technology expenditure increased by 0.9% year-on-year, health expenditure increased by 11.3% year-on-year, and social security and employment expenditure increased by 6.3% year-on-year. The two key areas of science and technology and people's livelihood have been well protected.
The acceleration of expenditure in the field of people's livelihood is a direct manifestation of "investing in people". In the first five months of this year, the expenditure on health was 989.8 billion yuan, with a year-on-year growth rate ranking among the top expenditure categories. This was mainly due to the increase in subsidies for childcare and government subsidies for basic medical insurance funds. It is worth noting that recently, the Ministry of Finance issued a childcare subsidy fund of 99.9 billion yuan for 2026, an increase of 10.6% compared to 2025, to support various regions in providing childcare subsidies to eligible infants and young children. It is expected that a total of about 110 billion yuan of subsidy funds will be arranged by various levels of finance throughout the year.
Meanwhile, social security and employment expenditures in the first five months amounted to 2132.4 billion yuan, surpassing 2 trillion yuan. These "real gold and silver" investments reflect a greater emphasis on "precision drip irrigation" in fiscal expenditures. By adjusting the expenditure structure and focusing funds on areas such as residents' medical care, elderly care, and childcare, fiscal "safeguarding people's livelihoods" can solve residents' worries in these areas, thereby unleashing more consumption potential and consolidating the foundation for expanding domestic demand.
The acceleration of spending in the technology sector is aimed at long-term competitiveness. Finance not only ensures the prosperity of every small family's life, but also fully supports the vigorous development of important fields such as technological innovation. The expenditure on science and technology in the first five months of this year increased by 0.9% year-on-year, and the monthly expenditure in May increased by as much as 13% year-on-year, significantly accelerating compared to the previous month.
In 2026, China will continue to implement a more proactive fiscal policy, accelerate high-level scientific and technological self-reliance, optimize the structure of scientific and technological expenditures, further focus on basic research, applied basic research, and national strategic scientific and technological tasks, and stimulate innovation and creativity. In the context of increasingly fierce global technological competition, the continuous support of fiscal funds for technology is constantly accumulating momentum for future industrial upgrading.
The fiscal ledger is not only a barometer of people's livelihood and well-being, but also a roadmap for long-term development. From the fiscal revenue and expenditure data of the first five months of this year, it can be seen that key areas have strong guarantees, and the structure of fiscal expenditure is continuously optimizing. This will further help to continuously release the effectiveness of more proactive fiscal policies and provide solid financial support for high-quality economic and social development.