China boosts defence budget by 7%
China's National People's Congress (NPC) provided no breakdown on numbers on its defence budget increase, but NPC spokesperson Fu Ying confirmed an increase of 7%. This would bring the number to over a trillion yuan (RMB1.044 trillion or $151.5 billion) for the first time in China's history.
The amount, about 1.3% of gross domestic product (GDP), was an increase from $146.6 billion in 2016, but growth slowed from the double-digit increases that began in 2000 and ended last year with only a 7.6% increase.
The lack of transparency on how the budget will be divided amongst the armed services is
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