HONG KONG/BEIJING ¨C China¡¯s central government will increase defense spending at a slower pace than last year as President Xi Jinping overhauls the military and seeks to stamp out the corruption that hinders the country¡¯s combat readiness.
The defense budget will rise about 10 percent this year, in line with the increase in the general budget, National People¡¯s Congress spokeswoman Fu Ying said at a briefing on the NPC meetings that will kick off Thursday. Last year military spending rose 12.2 percent to 808.2 billion yuan ($128.9 billion).
China¡¯s leaders have routinely sought to justify the country¡¯s military modernization by linking defense spending to rapid GDP growth. But growth of 7.4 percent last year was the slowest in 24 years, and a further slowdown to around 7 percent is expected in 2015.
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