China hikes defence budget by 10 per cent to USD 275 billion

By Daily Excelsior – BEIJING, Mar 5: China on Thursday hiked its defence budget by a little over 10 per cent to USD 275 billion, about USD 25 billion more than last year as it ramped the modernisation of armed forces to catch up with the US military. Roughly 1.9 trillion yuan (about USD 275 billion) will be allocated to national defence, Chinese Premier Li Qiang announced in his work report presented to the National People’s Congress (NPC) on Thursday. The report said China’s defence spending remains comparatively modest across key relative indicators, including its share of GDP, per capita…