China’s Military Budget Increasing 10% for 2015, Official Says

[Zarvan]

Soldiers of People's Liberation Army (PLA) stand inside tanks at a drill during an organised media tour at a PLA engineering academy in Beijing July 22, 2014.

CREDIT: REUTERS/PETAR KUJUNDZIC










(Reuters) - China's defense budget this year will rise about 10 percent compared with 2014, a top government official said on Wednesday, outpacing the slowing economy as the country ramps up investment in high-tech equipment such as submarines and stealth jets.

Parliament spokeswoman Fu Ying told a news conference that the actual figure would be released on Thursday, when the annual session of the largely rubber-stamp National People's Congress opens. Last year, defense spending rose 12.2 percent to $130 billion, second only to the United States.

China has logged a nearly unbroken two-decade run of double-digit budget increases, though many experts think the country's real defense outlays are much larger.

The military build-up has jangled nerves around the region, particularly as China has taken an increasingly robust line on its territorial disputes in the East and South China Seas.

"Compared with great powers, the road of China's defense modernization is more difficult. We have to rely on ourselves for most of our military equipment and research and development," Fu said.

"In addition, we must strengthen the protection of our officers and soldiers. But fundamentally speaking, China's defense policy is defensive in nature. This is clearly defined in the constitution. We will not easily change this direction and principle."

While Beijing keeps the details of its military spending secret, experts have said additional funding would likely go towards beefing up the navy with anti-submarine ships and developing more aircraft carriers beyond the sole vessel in operation.



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"Carriers have definitely got to be on the list," said John Blaxland, Senior Fellow at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at the Australian National University in Canberra.

"But also we've seen a massive surge in the number of submarines, and of course everybody loves submarines. The intimidatory effect of a submarine is hard to be beat."

Money would also likely go into cyber capabilities and satellites, Blaxland added.

China's leaders have routinely sought to justify the country's military modernization by linking defense spending to rapid GDP growth. But growth of 7.4 percent last year was the slowest in 24 years, and a further slowdown to around 7 percent is expected in 2015.

"We have achieved so much success with reform and opening up, we have not relied on gunboats to develop roads, but instead we have relied on complete and mutual beneficial cooperation," Fu said.

"We have been successful on this road, the road of peaceful development. We will adhere to the path of peaceful development."

The U.S. military and diplomatic "rebalancing" towards Asia and President Xi Jinping's crackdown on corruption in the People's Liberation Army, which has caused some disquiet in the ranks, are among the other factors that have kept military spending high, experts have said.

Beijing also says it faces a threat from Islamist militants in the far western region of Xinjiang, and is drafting a new anti-terror law that will create a legal framework for sending troops abroad on counter-terrorism missions.



(Additional reporting by Sui-Lee Wee and Ben Blanchard in Beijing and Matt Siegel in SYDNEY; Editing by Alex Richardson)
China defense budget rise to defy slowing economy| Reuters
@WebMaster @Horus @Oscar

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

China's Government budget is over $2.2 trillion, we spend only around than 5% of that on defense, nearly the LOWEST in the entire world.

A lot of countries spend 25% of their Government budget on defense, we have plenty of room to expand defense spending further.

Inside China's $2.2 trillion budget - CNN Economy

Look at the position of our National defense spending in our Government budget.

 

[Shotgunner51]

China's Government budget is over $2.2 trillion, we spend only around than 5% of that on defense, nearly the LOWEST in the entire world.

A lot of countries spend 25% of their Government budget on defense, we have plenty of room to expand defense spending further.

Inside China's $2.2 trillion budget - CNN Economy

Look at the position of our National defense spending in our Government budget.

Yes, it is still at a low share of government budget. Looking at another angle, last year (2014) the PLA budget was $130 billion, compared to GDP of $10.4 trillion, it was only ~1.25%, also very low.

 

[GeHAC]

Estimated 10% growth on military budget this year

 

[cirr]

China's Government budget is over $2.2 trillion, we spend only around than 5% of that on defense, nearly the LOWEST in the entire world.

A lot of countries spend 25% of their Government budget on defense, we have plenty of room to expand defense spending further.

Inside China's $2.2 trillion budget - CNN Economy

Look at the position of our National defense spending in our Government budget.

Yeah, defence spending should make up at least 10% of the Central Government's budget.

I won't mind if the local governments chip in a few hundreds of billion yuan here and there.

 

[Pangu]

Yeah, defence spending should make up at least 10% of the Central Government's budget.

I won't mind if the local governments chip in a few hundreds of billion yuan here and there.

Local govt. chip in to PAP budget, but still very stingy!

 

[Shotgunner51]

Yeah, defence spending should make up at least 10% of the Central Government's budget.

I won't mind if the local governments chip in a few hundreds of billion yuan here and there.

Local govt. chip in to PAP budget, but still very stingy!

Yes, local governments provide most of the budget for CAPF (Chinese People's Armed Police Force / 中国人民武装警察部队). The central government budget is for PLA.

People's Armed Police - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

Yes, it is still at a low share of government budget. Looking at another angle, last year (2014) the PLA budget was $130 billion, compared to GDP of $10.4 trillion, it was only ~1.25%, also very low.

Yeah, defence spending should make up at least 10% of the Central Government's budget.

I won't mind if the local governments chip in a few hundreds of billion yuan here and there.

I agree, we are spending nearly the lowest in the world in terms of % of Government budget.

Raising it to 10% seems fine, it would still be quite low compared to many other countries, and still FAR lower than what America/Russia/etc. spend as a percentage of their annual budget.

But then our neighbours would cry because the nominal figure would end up at almost $300 billion lol.

 

[cirr]

I agree, we are spending nearly the lowest in the world in terms of % of Government budget.

Raising it to 10% seems fine, it would still be quite low compared to many other countries, and still FAR lower than what America/Russia/etc. spend as a percentage of their annual budget.

But then our neighbours would cry because the nominal figure would end up at almost $300 billion lol.

The central government‘s 2015 budget will see a 10% hike，so spending on defence as a percentage of the budget will remain the same。

 

[third eye]

BBC News - China military budget 'to rise 10%'

China's military budget will rise by about 10% in 2015, an official says.

Fu Ying, spokeswoman for China's annual parliament session the National People's Congress (NPC), gave the "rough" figure and said it was in line with overall spending growth.

A formal announcement will be made on Thursday when the NPC opens.

China has seen several years of double-digit defence spending increases. It is the world's second-highest military spender, but remains far behind the US.

Last year, China's defence spending rose 12.2% to $130bn (£85bn). In comparison, for the fiscal year 2016 US President Barack Obama has requested a budget of $585bn.

China says the spending is required to modernise the People's Liberation Army - the world's largest standing military.

It is pouring investment into hi-tech equipment such as submarines and stealth jets, reports the BBC's Martin Patience in Beijing.

It has also been investing in naval forces, including an aircraft carrier. Recent media reports that a second was being built were swiftly deleted.

China's neighbours are closely watching its military investment.

In recent years Beijing has taken a more assertive stance on maritime territorial disputes with both Japan and South East Asian nations, leading to a rise in regional tensions.

In response, Japan has begun increasing its military budget, as has India - which has a disputed land border with China.

US officials also fear that China understates its current military spending, suspecting the real figure could be considerably higher.

Ms Fu said China had not forgotten lessons from history - "those who fall behind will get bullied".

"Our country will achieve modernisation, of which national defence modernisation is an important part," she added. "This requires a certain guaranteed amount of funding."

 

[terranMarine]

if we spend like 5% of the GDP some neighbors will crap in their pants.

 

[Keel]

For the arms exporters who are playing the "China threat cards" anything we spend on military budget will be good news for them
The more the merrier
Attention also for the "wall climbers"

 

[Jlaw]

Only 13 billion increase from last year, is nothing. When will Military spending hit $200 billion per year?

 

[xuxu1457]

China's defense budget growth rate drops to around 10 pct - Xinhua | English.news.cn
BEIJING, March 4 (Xinhua) -- China will raise its defense budget by around 10 percent this year, compared with last year's 12.2 percent, a spokeswoman for the annual session of the country's top legislature said Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters at a press conference a day ahead of the Third Session of the 12th National People's Congress (NPC), Fu Ying said the exact figure will be published in a draft budget report Thursday.

"I can give you a rough idea. The recommended growth rate for national defense in the draft 2015 budget report is about 10 percent," Fu said.

China's defense budget rose by 12.2 percent last year to 808.2 billion yuan (about 131 billion U.S. dollars), riding on a multi-year run of double-digit increases.

A growth rate of about 10 percent could be the lowest in five years.

The figure will put the world's second largest economy's defense spending at some 890 billion yuan (about 145 billion U.S. dollars). The U.S. military spending amounted to 660.4 billion dollars in 2013.

"To tell the truth, there is still a gap between China's armed forces [and foreign counterparts] in terms of overall military equipment. We still need more time," she said, adding that capital support is also needed for the modernization of China's national defense and its army.

"Compared with major countries in the world, the road to China's defense modernization is indeed a difficult one," Fu noted. "We have to rely on ourselves for most of our military equipment and research. Sometimes we have to do these from the very beginning," she said.

Fu said as a big country, China needs an army that can safeguard its national security and people.

"Lagging behind leaves one vulnerable to attacks. That is a lesson we have learned from history," she said. More than 35 million Chinese soldiers and civilians were killed or wounded as a result ofJapanese aggression during the World War II.

The spokeswoman nonetheless noted that China's defense policy is defensive in nature, and that the principle is "clearly defined in the country's Constitution."

The country's past achievements in reform and opening up come not from "cannons and warships" but from mutually-beneficial cooperation, Fu said, adding that China will stick to the path of peaceful development.

China's military expenditures have seen a multi-year run of double-digit increases since 2010 when the defense budget was set to grow by 7.5 percent. The figures stood at 12.7 percent in 2011, 11.2 percent in 2012, 10.7 percent in 2013.

The double digits have caused some concerns from Western countries, although Chinese experts said they were perfectly in line with the country's economic conditions.

The Chinese economy grew 7.4 percent in 2014, the weakest annual expansion in 24 years. Many believe the government might set the 2015 growth target at around 7 percent.

If so, the around-10-percent rise in defense budget would have represented a steeper drop from last year, compared with the slowing economy.

In addition, although the rise in the defense budget in the past years has surpassed GDP growth, China's military expenditure in 2014 accounted for less than 1.5 percent of GDP, well below the world's average of 2.6 percent.

The per capita military spending is even less, representing only about 4.5 percent of the United States, 11 percent of Britain and 20 percent of Japan.

According to a white paper on national defense published in 2013, China' s military spending is divided into three parts.

The first part consists of the wages and subsidies paid to China's soldiers, which have increased to keep up with inflation. Like in many other countries, Chinese civilians participate in military service, usually obligatorily in first two years and then voluntarily afterwards.

The second part consists of expenditures on training and logistics.

The third part covers the cost of research and development, such as building a modernized defense system.

Expenditures also soared as China's armed forces are starting to bear more responsibilities around the world. The country's military has fought piracy in dangerous waters, offered medical expertise in countries affected by Ebola and swept for mines in countries that are still recovering from past wars.

Editor: Luan

 

[dlclong]

This data is also far away from the US，
Especially with the per capita terms, China is still far behind, behind many countries.