Monday, July 4, 2022
  • About us
    • Write for us
    • Disclaimer
    • Terms of use
    • Privacy Policy
  • RSS Feeds
  • Advertise with us
  • Contact us
DefenceTalk
  • Home
  • Defense News
    • Defense & Geopolitics News
    • War Conflicts News
    • Army News
    • Air Force News
    • Navy News
    • Missiles Systems News
    • Nuclear Weapons
    • Defense Technology
    • Cybersecurity News
  • Military Photos
  • Defense Forum
  • Military Videos
  • Military Weapon Systems
    • Weapon Systems
    • Reports
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Defense News
    • Defense & Geopolitics News
    • War Conflicts News
    • Army News
    • Air Force News
    • Navy News
    • Missiles Systems News
    • Nuclear Weapons
    • Defense Technology
    • Cybersecurity News
  • Military Photos
  • Defense Forum
  • Military Videos
  • Military Weapon Systems
    • Weapon Systems
    • Reports
No Result
View All Result
DefenceTalk
No Result
View All Result

China Announces 7.6-Pct Defense Budget Rise, Lowest In Six Years

by Xinhua
March 8, 2016
in Defense Geopolitics News
2 min read
0
China Test Fires 10,000-Km Range Nuclear Missile, DF-31B
14
VIEWS

China on Saturday announced the country’s lowest defense budget increase in six years in the wake of rising economic headwinds and last year’s massive drawdown of service people.

According to a budget report to the national legislature annual session, the government plans to raise the 2016 defense budget by 7.6 percent to 954 billion yuan ($146 billion).

The increase last year was 10.1 percent.

The fresh raise will make the world’s second largest economy the second largest defense spender, both next to the United States which, in the exact words of US President Barack Obama, spends more on military “than the next eight nations combined.”

Obama proposed a 534-billion dollar defense budget package for the 2016 fiscal year, about 3.6 times China’s budget this year. This year’s new increase will do little to close that gap.

China’s military expenditure had seen a five-year run of double-digit increases between 2011 and 2015. The country saw the defense budget growing by 7.5 percent in 2010.

Friday’s report did not offer further breakdown of the figure nor explain the rationale behind the abated growth, although some officials and military experts have pointed to slowing growth in the world’s second largest economy.

Maj. Gen. Chen Zhou linked the forecast-beating slowdown with China’s “economic and social status quo” in an interview with Xinhua.

“A single-digit rise following years of double-digit growth is a prudent, moderate move,” said Chen, also an NPC deputy, adding that there are no “hidden” expenses in the country’s military spending.

Faced with increasing economic headwinds with uncertainty clouding global recovery, China saw its economy expanding 6.9 percent year on year in 2015, the slowest in a quarter of a century, weighed down by a property market downturn, falling trade and weak factory activity.

The government put this year’s growth target between 6.5 and 7 percent, compared with last year’s “approximately 7 percent” goal.

The cut of 300,000 service people announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping in September might also have helped drive down the defense budget growth figure.

China will make its military more revolutionary, modern and better structured, strengthen in a coordinated way military preparedness on all fronts and for all scenarios and work meticulously to ensure combat readiness and border, coastal and air defense control, Premier Li Keqiang said in the government work report to the national legislature annual session.

Logistics and equipment development will be stepped up and the military’s size and structure will undergo reforms, he said.

To modernize management and administration, the PLA inaugurated a General Command for the army, the PLA Rocket Force and the PLA Strategic Support Force in December. In February, it replaced seven military area commands with five PLA theater commands.

“The PLA is in the key phase of deepening reforms,” Maj. Gen. Luo Yuan said.

“A moderate increase in the military budget is necessary,” he said.

Both Chen and Luo shrugged off concerns from Western observers over China’s growing military spending.

Though recent rises in defense budgets surpassed GDP growth, China’s military expenditure in 2015 accounted for 1.33 percent of GDP, well below the world’s average of 2.6 percent.

The per capita military spending is even less, representing only about 5.6 percent that of the US, 11 percent that of Britain and 25 percent that of Japan, Chen said.

Tags: budgetchinadefence budgetspending
Previous Post

North Korea Threatens Pre-emptive Nuclear Strike

Next Post

The Great Green Fleet Operates in the South China Sea

Related Posts

China offers to mediate Horn of Africa disputes

NATO wary of Russian, Chinese ‘gains’ on southern flank

June 30, 2022

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg pledged more support Thursday for countries in Africa and the Middle East as the alliance looks...

Franco-German treaty a step toward ‘European army’: Merkel

Relief and concern in Sweden after NATO deal with Turkey

June 30, 2022

Sweden may have clinched a surprise deal with Turkey paving the way for its NATO membership, but Kurds and leftwing...

Next Post
ONR Develops New Acquisition Model for Delivering Information to the Fleet

The Great Green Fleet Operates in the South China Sea

Latest Defense News

Joint military forces kick off Cope North 2020

Biden says US ‘should sell’ F-16 Fighter Jets to Turkey

June 30, 2022
China offers to mediate Horn of Africa disputes

NATO wary of Russian, Chinese ‘gains’ on southern flank

June 30, 2022
F-35A Lightning II Fighter Jet

Greece formalizes request for US-made F-35 fighter jets: PM

June 30, 2022
Franco-German treaty a step toward ‘European army’: Merkel

Relief and concern in Sweden after NATO deal with Turkey

June 30, 2022
Jordan to Buy Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems

Norway to send rocket launchers to Ukraine

June 30, 2022

Britain boosts military aid to Ukraine

June 30, 2022

Defense Forum Discussions

  • Australian Army Discussions and Updates
  • NZDF General discussion thread
  • General Aviation Thread
  • Military Aviation News and Discussion
  • New Zealand Army
  • S.Korea, Indonesia to develop 4.5 gen fighter aircraft KFX
  • Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force Thread
  • Royal Netherlands Navy
  • The Russian-Ukrainian War Thread
  • Royal Australian Navy Discussions and Updates 2.0
DefenceTalk

© 2003-2020 DefenceTalk.com

Navigate Site

  • Defence Forum
  • Military Photos
  • RSS Feeds
  • About us
  • Advertise with us
  • Contact us

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Defense News
    • Defense & Geopolitics News
    • War Conflicts News
    • Army News
    • Air Force News
    • Navy News
    • Missiles Systems News
    • Nuclear Weapons
    • Defense Technology
    • Cybersecurity News
  • Military Photos
  • Defense Forum
  • Military Videos
  • Military Weapon Systems
    • Weapon Systems
    • Reports

© 2003-2020 DefenceTalk.com