Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
China’s Navy showed its J-15T combat plane at the Air Zhuhai 2024 show on November 12, 2024.
Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty images
China on Wednesday increased its defense expense by 7.2% this year, the same growth rate as in the previous two years, since Beijing seeks to “signature firmly” its national security.
In an official government report that will be published in Parliament, China proposed a national defense budget of 1.78 billion yuan ($ 244.99 billion) for fiscal year 2025.
The increase in the defense budget, well above China’s economic growth objective for this year of approximately 5%, occurs when Western governments seek to increase military spending to reinforce their own security.
The European Union announced On Tuesday, it could mobilize up to 800 billion euros ($ 841 billion) to underpin the support of Ukraine amid the large -scale invasion of Russia. The measure followed the reports that the United States had pause Military aid to Ukraine.
China budgeted a 7.2% increase in defense spending to 1.67 billion yuan last year, the same growth rate as in the previous year. Beijing had increased spending by 7.1% in 2022 and 6.8% in 2021, according to official data.
When asked Tuesday about the defense expense of China, Lou Qinjian, spokesman for the third session of the 14th National Congress of the People, told reporters that “peace must be safeguarded by strength.”
That is according to an official translation of your comments in Mandarin.
China’s defense expense has only grown in a single digit every year since 2016, Lou added.
China remains the second largest military speaker in the world behind the United States, which has established the military budget for 2025 at $ 850 billion.
