China Trims Spending for Seventh Month as Beijing Pivots to Stimulus

China cut broad budget expenditure 3.7% year-on-year in September, the seventh consecutive monthly decline, before policymakers unveiled a modest stimulus package to keep growth on track for Beijing's annual target. Broad revenue fell 3.5%, narrowing the fiscal deficit by 3.8% for the month, according to Bloomberg calculations from Ministry of Finance data released Friday. For the first nine months of the year, spending exceeded income by 7.57 trillion yuan ($1.1 trillion). Tight fiscal conditions have weighed on domestic demand even as exports powered growth. Recent support measures include mortgage subsidies for qualified home buyers and 550 billion yuan in additional local government bond sales, following 800 billion yuan channeled through state policy banks. Third-quarter growth edged up to 4.5%, back within the government's 4.5%-5% annual target, though fixed-asset investment kept falling and infrastructure spending contracted further. Economists expect infrastructure outlays to improve as government support strengthens.