Government spending in China dropped 12.5 percent in October from a year earlier, while revenues rose 5.9 percent, according to the Ministry of Finance.

The ministry says the decline in fiscal spending in October was largely because of a high base of comparison with the same period last year.

At the same time, government spending in the first 10 months of 2016 was up 10 percent from a year earlier.

China has relied on government spending to stabilize growth this year as private companies pull back, but concerns about the country’s debt load are increasing.