The Chinese Navy showed off its J-15T Fighter Jet at the 2024 Zhuhai Air Show on November 12, 2024.
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China increased its defence spending on Wednesday by 7.2% this year. This is the same growth rate as in the past two years as Beijing seeks to “keep protection” national security.
In an official government report to be released in Congress, China proposed a defense budget of 1.78 trillion yuan ($24.499 billion) in fiscal year 2025.
The increase in defense budgets, far exceeding China’s economic growth target of around 5% this year, comes as Western governments are trying to ratchet military spending to strengthen their security.
The European Union announced on Tuesday that it could mobilize 800 billion euros ($841 billion) to strengthen support for Ukraine amid a full-scale Russian invasion. The move follows reports that the United States suddenly suspended military aid to Ukraine.
China increased its defense spending by 7.2% to 1.67 trillion yuan last year, the same growth rate as last year. According to official data, Beijing had an increase of 7.1% in 2022 and 6.8% in 2021.
When asked about China’s defense spending on Tuesday, Lu Kinjian, a spokesman for the third session of the 14th National People’s Assembly, told reporters, “Peace needs to be protected by strength.”
That is according to the official translation of his Mandarin language statement.
China’s defence spending as a share of GDP has been held at less than 1.5% over the years, adding that this spending rate is lower than the global average.
China remains the second largest military spender in the world after the United States, which has set its 2025 military budget at $850 billion.
Separately, spending allocated for public safety has increased by 7.3% this year, the official statement showed a sharp increase compared to a 1.4% increase last year.
– CNBC’s Sam Meredith contributed to this report.
