Chinese draft budget describes 6.6% defence spending increase
China will increase defence spending by 6.6% in 2020, according to a draft budget released on 22 May.
State-controlled news agency Xinhua noted that this will be the ‘lowest growth rate in recent years’, and the fifth consecutive annual single-digit increase.
The CNY1.27 trillion ($179 billion) official budget is now being deliberated by the annual National People's Congress (NPC), but Chinese defence expenditure is actually much higher.
Data released last month by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) shows that China was the second-largest military spender in the world in 2019 with $261 billion, behind the US.
Indeed, China accounted for 14% of global military spending in 2019 and spent 85% more on defence in 2019 than in 2010.
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