China’s Defence Budget Up 7.2 Percent

BEIJING: China will increase its defence expenditure in 2024, a move announced during the yearly National People’s Congress (NPC). The 7.2 percent increase is unchanged from 2023, a USD231.4 billion allocation as outlined in the country’s budget report.

China’s military budget is the second largest in the world just behind the United States despite the People’s Liberation Army being numerically larger than the US. China spends almost three times lesser on their military than the US, only 1.6 percent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

“We will provide stronger financial guarantees for efforts to modernise our national defence and the armed forces on all fronts and consolidate and enhance integrated national strategies and strategic capabilities,” Premier Li Qiang told the assembly in Beijing.-shp/adj/dl (Pix:China Ministry of National Defense)