BEIJING: China’s military budget will increase by 7 per cent this year to $151 billion (1.044 trillion yuan), the slowest growth in more than two decades, a finance ministry official announced on Monday.
The military budget will amount to 1.3 per cent of China’s GDP, the finance official said, in a report by the country’s Xinhua news agency.
The announcement comes a day after China broke with tradition and did not reveal its defence budget during the government’s annual work report presentation.
Every year since 1980, the Chinese government has announced its military spending on the first day of the annual plenary session of the National People’s Congress, the country’s parliament.
But on Sunday, Premier Li Keqiang delivered the government’s annual work report without including any exact military budget figures.
The omission raised concerns about China’s lack of transparency regarding its military expenses. In his presentation, Li instead used the opportunity to position the country as stable and peace-seeking.
On Saturday, a spokesperson for the National People’s Congress had said that the country’s defence budget would grow by approximately 7 per cent this year.
For most of the past 15 years, China’s defence budget has increased by double digits annually, reflecting the country’s strong economic growth. Last year’s planned military spending only increased by 7.6 per cent however, in line with China’s slowing economy. The army’s exact expenditure in 2016 has not yet been revealed. — dpa
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
