China hikes defence price range to USD 209 billion, 6.8 per cent improve

China on Friday hiked its defence price range to USD 209 billion, sustaining a single-digit progress for the sixth consecutive yr with a 6.8 per cent improve in 2021. The price range hike was introduced by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on the nation’s Parliament, the National People’s Congress (NPC).
Defending the rise, Zhang Yesui, spokesperson for the NPC, informed the media right here that China’s efforts to strengthen the nationwide defence don’t goal or threaten any nation. Whether a rustic poses a menace to others depends upon what sort of defence coverage it pursues, he stated, including that China is dedicated to the trail of peaceable improvement and adheres to a defence coverage that’s defensive in nature.
Last yr, China allotted 1.268 trillion yuan (about USD 196.44 billion), in keeping with the state-run Global Times. China’s annual defence price range maintains a single-digit progress for a sixth consecutive yr, state-run Xinhua information company reported.
This yr’s deliberate defence spending might be about 1.35 trillion yuan (about USD 209 billion), it stated. China’s defence price range is about one quarter of the US determine, which is USD 740.5 billion for the 2021 fiscal yr, it stated.

As the world’s second largest financial system and probably the most populous nation, China’s deliberate defence spending per capita in 2021 might be lower than 1,000 yuan (USD 154), it stated.

China applies strict mechanisms of fiscal allocation and price range administration on its defence expenditure, which is principally assigned to personnel, coaching and sustainment, and gear, it stated. China has voluntarily downsized its armed forces by over 4 million troops since 1978, in keeping with a white paper launched in 2019.