BEIJING China's fiscal revenue rose 11.9% in the first four months of 2023 from the same period a year earlier, accelerating sharply from a 0.5% rise in January-March, official data showed, as the economy stages a gradual but uneven post-COVID recovery.

Fiscal revenue totalled 8.32 trillion yuan ($1.20 trillion)in the first four months while fiscal expenditure grew 6.8% to 8.64 trillion yuan, the ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

In April, fiscal revenue jumped about 70% from a year earlier, accelerating sharply from a 5.5% rise in March, according to Reuters calculations based on the ministry's data.

The world's second-largest economy is recovering after three years of stringent COVID-19 curbs, but April data suggested the economy lost momentum at the beginning of the second quarter.

Analysts expect China's economy to grow nearly 8% in the second quarter from a year earlier, quickening from the first quarter's 4.5% pace, partly as it is coming off a low base last year when there were widespread COVID lockdowns.

($1 = 6.9121 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Ellen Zhang and Kevin Yao; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Sonali Paul)