Alwaght- China Plans to boost its defense budget by 8.1 percent in 2018, in a bid to further modernize its armed forces.
A budget document made available to the media before the opening of China's 13th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing on Monday, says china is set to spend 1.1 trillion yuan ($173 billion) in country's army, a hike in the growth rate compared to last year, when Finance Ministry officials said the budget was rising 7 percent to 1 trillion yuan ($151 billion).
“We will stick to the Chinese path in strengthening our armed forces, advance all aspects of military training and war preparedness, and firmly and resolvedly safeguard national sovereignty, security, and development interests,” Premier Li Keqiang told the legislature.
Li said the military had completed the reduction of its troops, cutting the numbers by 300,000, making the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) a two-million-strong force.
The military is instead preparing to launch its second aircraft carrier, integrate stealth fighters into its air force and field an array of advanced missiles capable of attacking air and sea targets at vast distances.
By cutting numbers and applying sophisticated equipment, Chinese leaders aim to make their defense forces “leaner and meaner,” according to military experts.
Media reports noted that Chinese military’s focus will be on anti-access/area denial, or A2/AD operations, which seek to secure the mainland and scare off foreign forces far from China’s shores.
China’s navy has boosted its maritime forces in the past years by buying the Liaoning aircraft carrier and refurbishing it.
In April, it launched a 50,000-ton carrier built based on the Ukrainian model.
It will join the improved Type 093B Shang class nuclear-powered attack submarine equipped with anti-ship missiles and the Type 055 guided-missile destroyers at the forefront of China's naval technology.
Such vessels aim to safeguard regional and international waterways, where the US Navy has long been dominant and regional rivals such as Japan and India are stepping up their presence.
Most navy ships already have anti-ship cruise missiles with longer ranges than those of their US counterparts.
In the air, China has built the J-20 stealth fighter jet compared to the US F-22 and F-35.
China’s missile technology, particularly the DF-21D, is built to take out an aircraft carrier, and a new air-to-air missile with a range of some 400 kilometers that could attack assets such as early warning aircraft and refueling tankers.
China’s defense budget shows a year-on-year increase in the past two years, seven percent increase in 2017, and 7.6 percent in 2016.
The six years before that -- from 2009 to 2015 -- spending growth had been in double figures.
