China Budget 2018: Beijing plans to raise defense spending by 8.1%, GDP by 6.5%

China is the second biggest spender on defence after the United States. The list states that China’s military spending are almost three times more than India which spends around $52.5 billion according to the list.

Written by ZEESHAN SHAIKH | Beijing | Updated: March 5, 2018 9:05 am

In its budget, China plans to raise its defense spending by 8.1 %, GDP by 6.5%

China also sets a target of 6.5 per cent Gross Domestic product (GDP) growth for 2018 in its budget. (Representational photo)

China on Monday announced that it plans to raise its defence spending by 8.1 per cent to $175 billion. Last year, the military budget had been raised by 7 per cent. The announcement was made in the opening session of China’s top legislative body-the National People’s Congress during the tabling of the National budget.

As per the International Institute for Strategic Studies, China is the second biggest spender on defence after the United States. The list states that China’s military spending are almost three times more than India which spends around $52.5 billion according to the list.

It also sets a target of 6.5 per cent Gross Domestic product (GDP) growth for 2018 in its budget. It claimed that its economy grew by 7.1 per cent and GDP grew from 54 trillion yuan to 82.7 trillion yuan. It added that its share in global economy grew from 11.4 per cent to 15 per cent.

It announced that the country added 66 million new urban jobs last year. The budget also states that the urbanisation rate rose from 52.6 to 58.5 per cent with 80 million people from rural areas gaining permanent urban residency. It also said that the average number of new businesses opened in 2018 rose to 16,000 per day from 5,000 in the previous year.

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