China keeps lid on military spending for fourth year in a row
- Defence budget’s annual increases have slowed to single digits since 2016 after cuts in personnel as part of modernisation drive
- Spending ‘solely for safeguarding China’s sovereignty, security and territorial integrity’ and ‘is not threat to other countries’, says legislature spokesman
China is expected to announce single-digit growth in its defence budget for the coming year – the fourth year in a row of increases in single figures, the spokesman of the country’s top legislative body revealed on Monday.
Zhang Yesui, spokesman of the National People’s Congress, did not disclose the total figure, but added that the rise in China’s defence spending had slowed from its previous double-digit growth to a single-digit increase since 2016.
“Whether a country would pose a military threat to other countries depends on the country’s foreign and defence policies, rather than how much it will increase its defence spending,” Zhang said.
“In 2018, China spent about 1.3 per cent of its gross domestic product on defence, while the proportion of GDP of many other key developed countries’ defence expenditure was more than 2 per cent.
“China always sticks to the path of peaceful development and implements a defensive defence policy. China’s limited defence spending is solely used for safeguarding the country’s sovereignty, security and territorial integrity – that will not pose any threat to other countries.”