-- China's defense budget is around one-quarter of the U.S. figure.
-- Since dropping to 7.6 percent in 2016, China's annual defense budget growth rate has remained under 10 percent for six consecutive years.
-- Never seeking hegemony, expansion or spheres of influence is the distinctive feature of China's national defense in the new era.
-- The United States appears to be the real threat to world peace.
BEIJING, March 8 -- A draft budget report submitted to China's top legislature has unveiled the country's planned military spending for this year. In 2021, China's defense budget will be around 1.35 trillion yuan (about 200 billion U.S. dollars), up 6.8 percent from last year.
Is China's military spending too hefty? Is the figure growing too fast? Is the so-called "Chinese military threat," as hyped by some Western politicians and media outlets, well-grounded?
The answer is no.
The national flag guards march from the Monument to the People's Heroes towards the national flag-raising post at the start of the celebrations for the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 1, 2019. (Xinhua/Fei Maohua)
QUARTER OF U.S. DEFENSE BUDGET
A country's defense expenditure is determined by various factors, including the demands of national defense, the size of its economy and its defense policy.
China is the world's second-largest economy and the most populous country with a vast land area. It has a great length of land border and complex maritime security environment. And yet, China's defense budget is around one-quarter of the U.S. figure.
Factoring in the country's vast population of 1.4 billion, China's planned defense expenditure per capita in 2021 will be about 140 U.S. dollars.
In sharp contrast, the defense budget of the United States for the 2021 fiscal year is 740.5 billion U.S. dollars, which makes for a per capita expenditure of about 2,230 U.S. dollars, around 15 times the Chinese figure.
When measured in terms of the proportion of GDP spent on the defense budget, China's military spending is undoubtedly at a low level.
A Chinese government white paper compared the average defense expenditures of various countries. As a percentage of GDP, from 2012 to 2017, China's average defense expenditure was about 1.3 percent. The figures for other major countries were: the United States about 3.5 percent; India 2.5 percent; the United Kingdom 2.0 percent; France 2.3 percent.
When calculated based on other standards, including as a ratio of spending to government expenditure, China's military spending is at a lower level than other major countries, according to the white paper.
