China today announced that it will hike its defence budget by seven to eight per cent this year from about USD 145 billion last year. Fu Ying, the spokesperson for the annual session of the national legislature, the National People’s Congress (NPC) told media that China’s military budget will continue to increase, but the increase will be smaller compared to last year. He said it will be about seven to eight per cent.
Accusing the US military of trying to increase its defence budget by hyping the South China Sea issue, Fu, said the increase is in line with China’s national defence need and fiscal revenue. In 2015 the budget was increased by 10.1 per cent, bringing it to about USD 145 billion at the time.