Beijing: China on Monday announced an 8.1 percent hike in its defence budget in 2018 to a whopping USD 175 billion, over three times higher than that of India, as an increasingly assertive Beijing focused on the modernisation and reach of the country's military, amidst simmering disputes with its neighbours.
The announcement of China increasing its military spending comes as President Xi Jinping, the commander-in-chief of the country's over 2-million-strong armed forces, focuses on cementing his status as the most powerful leader since Chairman Mao Zedong.
The 8.1 percent increase unveiled today is higher than last year's budget allocation, when China upped military spending by 7 percent over the previous year. According to a budget, report to be submitted to the National People's Congress (NPC), China's parliament, the defence budget in 2018 will be 1.11 trillion yuan (USD 175 billion).
China last year increased the defence budget to USD 150.5 billion. China is the second largest spender on defence after the US. The Pentagon has requested a budget of USD 686 billion in 2019, up USD 80 billion from 2017. The increase of China's defence budget by 8.1 percent this year, is three times higher than India's latest defence budget of about USD 46 billion.
China will "advance all aspects of military training and war preparedness, and firmly and resolvedly safeguard national sovereignty, security, and development interests," Premier Li Keqiang told the opening session of the NPC. Faced with profound changes in the national security environment the absolute leadership of the military by the ruling Communist Party must be observed, and the unity between the government and the military, and the people and the military, must always be strong as stone, he said.
The armed forces will firmly and resolutely safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests, Li said. The increased spending is seen as an indication of China's strategic ambitions, as it continues to modernise its army - the world's largest - and develop its infrastructure in contested areas like the East China Sea, South China Sea and its Himalayan border regions with India. China spent about 1.02 trillion yuan (about USD 161.87 billion) in national defense in 2017, about 1.3 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP), state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The NPC is expected to pass the military budget during the two-week session which will also see the removal of the two-term presidential limit, enabling President Xi to remain in office indefinitely. Though China announced its military spending at about USD 150.5 billion last year, observers say it is considerably higher, considering it is now building two more aircraft carriers in addition to the one already in service as well as addition of new jet fighters, including stealth fighter J-20.
The Chinese Navy also expanded its global reach with its warships sailing through the far-off oceans to expand China's influence. The official media justified the increase to USD 175 billion, saying although slightly higher than the previous two years, the growth rate is the third time to dip into the single digit since 2013, following 7.6 percent in 2016 and 7 percent in 2017.
China's defence budget takes up a smaller share of its gross domestic product (GDP) and national fiscal expenditure compared with other major countries, Zhang Yesui, the spokesperson of the NPC told the media here yesterday. China's military spending per capita is also lower than other major countries, Zhang claimed.
"A large part of the growth of the defence budget is to make up for the low military spending in the past and is mainly used to upgrade equipment and improve the welfare of servicemen and women and the living and training conditions of grassroots troops," he said. Defending the 8.1 percent hike, a top Chinese defence expert said, a steady and appropriate growth of defense spending is necessary because the Chinese armed forces have been modernising to keep up with the country's development.
China has set goals to complete the basic modernisation of national defence and forces by 2035 and to transform its armed forces into world class by the mid-21st century, Major General Chen Zhou, a research fellow at the Academy of Military Sciences affiliated with the People's Liberation Army (PLA), said.
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