BEIJING: China on Tuesday revealed a defense budget draft for the current year worth 1.66554 trillion yuan (231.36 billion dollars), an increase of 7.2% from the previous year.
The proposed defense budget was released in a draft budget report issued at the second session of the National People’s Congress, the country’s top legislature.
China’s defense budget has maintained single-digit growth for 9 consecutive years since 2016. The growth rate was also set at 7.2% in 2023, while stably moved between 6% and 8% in recent years.
Zhang Junshe, a Chinese military expert, said that China’s defense expenditure has been stable in recent years, and the consecutive single-digit growth revealed that the increase is moderate and reasonable.
Many countries have increased their military expenditures in recent years, Zhang told a Chinese daily.
He added that, compared with other major military powers, the defense expenditure of China in the share of its GDP is also at a low level.
China’s Defense Spending in Recent Years
In recent years, the defense spending of China has generally accounted for only about 1.3% of the country’s GDP.
China can easily hike its military expenditure more radically thanks to the country’s comprehensive development, and the fact that it is not doing so reflects the restraint in the setting of defense budget, according to analysts.
