Nueva Delhi: China on Sunday justified the increase in defense spending citing the difficult challenges at the borders in the protection of national sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Defense spokesman, Mr. Co. Wu Qian said that the greatest amount will be used to develop new domain forces with the latest combat capabilities and joint strikes by their armed forces in the midst of continuous confrontations with India and in the South China Sea.
“The Chinese army faces difficult challenges to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Wu said during the annual session of the current Parliament.
WU also added that the increase in spending will be used to develop new domain domain forces with new combat capabilities and to improve systems and early recognition and alert, joint strikes, battlefield support and integrated logistical support. The expense will also be improved by military training in combat conditions and deepen national defense and military reform.
Earlier on Wednesday, Chinese prime minister, Li Qiang, announced that China’s planned defense expense for this year is 1,78466 billion yuanes (approximately USD 249 billion).
China has the second largest military budget in the world, after the United States, whose last proposal for defense spending was more than USD 890 billion, as presented by former President Donald Trump.
Last year, China increased its defense budget by 7.2 percent, which led to approximately USD 232 billion (1.67 billion yuan).
Actoring WU, compared to the main military powers such as the United States, China’s defense expense remains relatively low in terms of participation in GDP, national tax expenses, per capita defense expenses and expenses per member of the service.
On Tuesday, Lou Qinjian, spokesman for the National Congress of the People, defended the growing defense expense of China, declaring: “Peace must be safeguarded.”