China to increase defense budget by around 7 percent this year

ASTANA. KAZINFORM China will increase its defense budget by around 7 percent in 2017, compared to 7.6 percent in 2016, the spokesperson for the Chinese legislature announced on Saturday, Kazinform has learnt from Agencia EFE.

Fu Ying, addressing a press conference in Beijing ahead of the start of the parliament's annual session on Sunday, said the increase will be lower than last year and in line with the trend followed in recent years.

In 2017, the defense budget will be around 1.3 percent of the GDP, and will increase to more than one trillion yuan ($148 billion), according to an estimate released Saturday.

In 2016, China announced the lowest increase in its military spending in six years amid a restructuring of its armed forces and a slowdown of its economy.

However, China's military spending is the second highest in the world, surpassed only by the US.

Fu defended China's need to increase defense spending to guarantee the army's ability to protect the country and its interests.
When asked about other countries' concerns over China's militarization of the South China Sea, which is the subject of regional territorial disputes involving various countries, the spokesperson claimed the tensions are easing, and that the region's future will depend largely on US intentions.