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AFP, BEIJING
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China yesterday announced a 7 percent boost to its defense budget for this year.
The latest rise keeps China’s spending at one-third of that of the US, but it is working to close the gap.
Beijing plans to spend 1.9096 trillion yuan (US$276.8 billion) on defense, according to a report published at the opening of the annual Two Sessions parliamentary meeting.
From second row, left, Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference chairman Wang Huning, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Chinese Premier Li Qiang attend the opening session of the National People Congress at the Great Hall of People in Beijing yesterday.
Photo: Bloomberg
Chinese Premier Li Qiang (李強) told delegates that China would bolster the military and “carry out major defense-related projects” over the next five years.
Analysts said that the budget would finance military salary increases, training, maneuvers around Taiwan, cyberwarfare capabilities and advanced equipment purchases, among other things.
Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said that China has continued its allocations of large percentages of its national budget on military buildup, despite a weakening economy and a decline in consumer spending.
“China might not be able to compare with the US in terms of the scale of defense expenditure. However, it has surpassed the US in terms of purchasing power parity, meaning that if the Chinese Communist Party were to spend US$1 trillion, the military equipment it could procure and the number of troops it could recruit would far exceed what the US could obtain with the same amount of funding,” Liang said.
Beijing’s defense budget this year is 11 times more than Taiwan’s, Liang said.
A 7 percent increase in Taiwan would mean NT$600 billion (US$18.94 billion) in additional defense spending from last year, he said, adding that if the special defense budget proposed by the Executive Yuan of NT$1.25 trillion is passed, it would only be an annual rise of NT$150 billion.
“That is precisely why Taiwan must accelerate its efforts. Even if we cannot advance at the same pace, we still need to work hard to catch up,” Liang said.
China has had a steady increase in military spending of about 7 to 8 percent each year since 2016, although its military spending compared with GDP was about 1.7 percent in 2024, well behind the US figure of 3.4 percent and Russia’s 7.1 percent, data from independent international research institute SIPRI showed.
However, the increase marks a degree of continuity as Beijing pursues a sweeping anti-graft purge of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), which included the ousting of top general Zhang Youxia (張又俠) in January.
“China pursues an independent and self-reliant foreign policy. However, without robust military capabilities and technological prowess, our diplomatic stance would inevitably be subject to coercion or even dictated by certain nations, including the United States,” said military commentator Song Zhongping (宋忠平), a former Chinese army instructor.
As for GDP, China set its lowest annual growth target in decades, at 4.5 to 5 percent, as Beijing outlined plans to tackle sluggish consumption and a flagging property market.
“The achievements of the past year were hard-won,” Li said. “Rarely in many years have we encountered such a grave and complex landscape, where external shocks and challenges were intertwined with domestic difficulties and tough policy choices.”
This year’s growth target is the lowest since 1991, Agence France-Presse research showed.
The only exception was in 2020, when none was set as the economy reeled amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Additional reporting by Shelley Shan
