China raises defence spending 7% as modernisation drive intensifies by 2035

The Chinese government has officially announced a 7% increase in its national defence budget on Thursday, pushing official military spending to approximately 1.91 trillion yuan. This spending is a crucial part of a strategy to achieve transformation within five years; it continues to outpace wider economic growth targets and the rest of Asia at a time of growing regional tensions.

Meanwhile, security analysts are closely monitoring China’s budget as it races to modernize the military by 2035.Beijing is moving to bolster operational readiness and accelerate the development of "advanced combat capabilities”.

In this connection, President Xi Jinping said: “All these steps will boost our strategic capacity to safeguard China’s sovereignty, security and development interests.”

This year's surge demonstrates that Beijing is maintaining its long-standing principle of balancing economic growth with national defence goals, said James Char of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. 

Most importantly, the People’s Liberation Army budget has grown at a consistent rate as a percentage of GDP-roughly the rate of GDP growth plus inflation.”

The recent revelation amid the highest-profile systematic removal of personnel in decades, with the most senior generals-including Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli- ensnared in disciplinary investigations. In line with the views of some regional analysts, this funding will likely support military drills and deployments around Taiwan, the democratically-governed island that Beijing views as its territory.