Beijing: China’s spending will be more than three and a half times as of India’s present spending on defence.
China declared its defence budget in the coming year would rise by around 7 per cent, with its spending likely to cross 1 trillion yuan for first time and India’s by three-and-a-half times.
The budget, which will be approved at the annual National People’s Congress (NPC) or Parliament session which opens on Sunday, comes as China pushes forward a massive modernization programme and as its Navy expands its global footprint.
China’s defence spending last year was 954 billion Yuan or $146 billion in 2016, an increase of 7.6 per cent – the lowest in six years.
China’s defence outlay grew 10.1 per cent in 2015 to 886.85 billion Yuan after many years of double-digit growth.
An around 7 per cent hike would take spending to more than 1 billion Yuan, but is not a huge increase in dollar terms. With a depreciating Yuan, a seven per cent rise would be around $148 billion, up from $146 billion last year.