China's Defense Budget for This Year 236 Trillion Won... 6.8% Increase from Last Year

Premier Li Keqiang of China [Photo by Reuters]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] The Chinese government has set this year's defense budget growth rate at 6.8%. This is 0.2 percentage points higher than last year, maintaining a growth rate in the 6% range for the second consecutive year.

On the 5th, at the 4th annual session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing (北京), China announced through the government work report that this year's defense budget will increase by 6.8% compared to the previous year, reaching approximately 1.3553 trillion yuan (about 236 trillion won).

Last year, when China suffered significant economic damage due to COVID-19, it set the lowest defense budget growth rate in the past 30 years at 6.6%.

Since the economy is expected to emerge from its worst phase this year, it was anticipated that the defense budget growth rate would increase, but analysis suggests that the increase was not as significant as expected.

China's defense budget growth rate dropped to single digits after 10.1% in 2015. It fell sharply to 7.6% in 2016, and then recorded 7.0%, 8.1%, and 7.5% respectively for three years until 2019.

Premier Li Keqiang emphasized "building a strong military" in his work report, stating, "We must comprehensively strengthen training and war preparedness, respond comprehensively to security risks in all fields, and enhance strategic capabilities to safeguard national sovereignty, security, and development interests."