China hikes defence budget to USD 275 billion

BEIJING: (Mar 5) China on Thursday hiked its defence budget to USD 275 billion, about USD 25 billion more than last year as it ramped the modernisation of armed forces to catch up with the US military.

Roughly 1.9 trillion yuan (about USD 275 billion) will be allocated to national defence, Chinese Premier Li Qiang announced in his work report presented to the National People’s Congress (NPC) on Thursday.

The report said China's defence spending remains comparatively modest across key relative indicators, including its share of GDP, per capita defence expenditure, and defence expenditure per military personnel, it said.