The most recent draft budget report that was submitted at the annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC) this week has revealed that China is once again lowering the growth rate of its defense budget. The report revealed that the budget growth rate for 2019 will only be 7.5 percent, which is slightly lower than the 8.1 percent growth for 2018.
Despite the lowered growth of the budget, the amount that will be dedicated to the country's defense is still significant at around US$177.61 billion. This will be the fourth straight year that the country has lowered the budget growth for its defense. In the past four years, defense budget growth has stayed in the single digits. The four years of lowered growth was preceded by five straight years of double-digit growth.
According to the former deputy head of the Academy of Military Sciences, China may be paying more attention to the scale of its defense expenditure this year. During the legislative session, it was mentioned that the defense budget increase is still within reason and is appropriate for the country's continued need for national security and its planned large-scale military reform.
The proposed budget will be spent mostly on advancing the country's military defense capabilities and to modernize its weapons and equipment. Part of the money will also go towards better personnel training and other relevant tasks. Enough money will also be appropriated to improving the welfare and support for military personnel.
It was also explained that the defense budget is only a small portion of the country's GDP and the national fiscal expenditure. Compared to other countries, China still has very low military spending per capita and per soldier. Major countries usually allocated around 2 percent of their GDP for national defense. In 2018, national defense expenditure only accounted for 1.3 percent of China's GDP. The United States currently has the largest military defense budget, standing at around US$716 billion dollars; more than four times China's budget.
Analysts have also explained that China may not be looking to drastically improve its national strength and armed forces to get ahead of other countries. Instead, China may be adopting a more peaceful development path that would not pose any kind of threat to other countries. The Academy of Military Sciences has also noted that China has increased its role in public security within the international community. China still plans to increase its participation in UN peacekeeping missions and other international security operations.
