China is increasing its defense budget this year by 7.2 percent – a larger increase than last year and well above its economic growth target of about 5 percent. This was announced on Sunday at the opening of the National People’s Congress in Beijing, Reuters reports.
Defense spending will rise to 1,550 billion yuan (more than 210 billion euros), according to the national budget published on Sunday. The figure serves as a barometer of how aggressively Beijing is investing in its armed forces. Only the US spends about 750 billion euros more on defense.
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The defense budget is growing significantly faster than the economy; China has set an economic growth target of 5 percent this year – one of its lowest targets in decades.
Corona restrictions
China posted an economic growth of only 3 percent last year, one of the weakest growth figures in decades, due to, among other things, ongoing corona restrictions, a crisis in the Chinese real estate sector and a decline in demand for Chinese exports. China had a target of 5.5 percent growth last year.
At the start of the People’s Congress, outgoing Premier Li Keqiang emphasized the need for economic stability and the growth of consumption. He set a target of 12 million new jobs in the cities, up from the target of 11 million a year ago. Li forecasts a budget deficit of 3 percent of GDP, an increase from about 2.8 percent
Nearly 3,000 delegates from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) attended the annual meeting of the People’s Congress that started in Beijing on Sunday.