China plans to boost its military spending by 8.1% in 2018 as it goes forward with an ambitious modernization drive for its armed forces.
China’s budget announcement comes as President Xi Jinping, the commander in chief of the country’s armed forces, focuses on increasing both the sophistication and reach of the country’s military.
He’s also seeking to expand his influence within the upper echelon’s of China’s leadership with a change to the constitution to extend his term in office, possibly indefinitely.
It’s one of the proposals the NPC is expected to rubber-stamp during the next two weeks, when nearly 3,000 delegates meet in Beijing for the annual session of China’s parliament.
Behind the figures
Speaking to reporters Sunday, Zhang Yesui, a spokesman for the NPC, said that even with the latest increase, China spends less of its gross domestic product than other major military powers.
“A large part of the growth of the defense budget is to make up for the low military spending in the past and is mainly used to upgrade equipment and improve the welfare of servicemen and women and the living and training conditions of grassroots troops,” said Zhang.
According to the independent Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) report on comparative military spending released last year, the US leads in total dollars spent, about three times that of China, and nine times that of Russia in third.
But although China’s defense spending is less than other major countries, the figures released do not include numerous military-related costs typically included in the budgets of other nations.
The CSIS China Power project, which monitors China’s military expenditure, said outlays not covered may include government subsidies for military production, funds for strategic and nuclear forces, and paramilitary organizations, suggesting that China’s real budget is far greater than the official figures reveal.
“Military-related aspects of Beijing’s space program, extra-budgetary revenues from military-owned commercial enterprises, defense mobilization funds, authorized sales of land or excess food produced by some units, recruitment bonuses for college students, and provincial military base operating costs are absent from China’s officially announced numbers,” said CSIS.
High-profile developments
China’s modernization drive has accelerated in recent months.
In April, the PLA launched its first domestic-made aircraft carrier, followed closely by the launch of what it says is a world-class guided-missile destroyer .
In July, the PLA formally opened its first overseas military base in Djibouti. Later that month it conducted a show of naval power, sending warships through the Mediterranean and into the Baltic Sea.
Earlier this month the PLA announced that its newest stealth fighter, the J-20, was combat-ready, and sometime later this year, it is expected to enter the Dongfeng-41 intercontinental ballistic missile into service.
