ibn sultan
Beijing, March 5: China on Thursday announced a major increase in its defence spending, raising the budget by more than 10 percent to about USD 275 billion for the current year.
Chinese Premier made the announcement while presenting the government’s work report to the (NPC). According to the report, around 1.9 trillion yuan (approximately USD 275 billion) will be allocated for national defence.
The increase of nearly USD 25 billion compared to last year is aimed at accelerating the modernisation of China’s armed forces as the country seeks to narrow the military gap with the .
China said its defence spending remains modest when measured against factors such as the share of GDP, per-capita defence expenditure, and spending per military personnel.
Last year, China had increased its defence budget by 7.2 percent to USD 249 billion for 2025, which was USD 17 billion higher than in 2024. Over the years, China’s military budget has steadily grown, making it the second-largest defence budget in the world after the United States.
In 2024, China raised its defence spending to about USD 232 billion, which was more than three times the defence budget of . The increase has put pressure on India and other neighbouring countries to boost their own military spending.
Analysts say the figures are often viewed with scepticism because China is rapidly expanding its military capabilities, including building aircraft carriers, advanced naval ships and modern stealth aircraft.
Meanwhile, China has also revised its GDP growth target to between 4.5 and 5 percent this year. The lower target reflects economic challenges such as global tensions linked to the US-Iran conflict, trade tensions with former US President , a slowdown in the property market, and rising unemployment.
