China increases defence budget in 2017

BEIJING: China’s defence budget will rise 7 per cent in 2017, to 1.044 trillion yuan ($151.43 billion), state media said on Monday, after the omission of exact figures from an annual report sparked questions over transparency on military spending.

The budget increase, a figure that is closely watched around the world for clues to China’s strategic intentions, is the smallest in more than a decade, as economic growth has slowed, with a target of about 6.5 per cent for the year.

The spokeswoman for China’s parliament, Fu Ying, said on Saturday that defence spending for this year would rise about 7 per cent, accounting for about 1.3 per cent of gross domestic product — matching the level of the last few years.

But in a highly unusual move, the finance ministry did not give spending figures in a report at the opening of an annual meeting of parliament on Sunday, even as China pledged to strengthen maritime and air defences.

The official Xinhua news agency gave the figures on its microblog, citing an unnamed finance ministry official.

The expenditures would be used “mainly to support the deepening of national defence and military reforms”, the official said, without elaborating.

Last year’s hike of 7.6 per cent in the defence budget was the lowest in six years and the first single-digit rise since 2010, following a nearly unbroken two-decade run of double-digit increases.

China has repeatedly said its defence spending is transparent. — Reuters