While the budget increase is just 0.2 of a percentage point more than last year’s growth, it is the biggest expansion in military spending in Asia. The finance ministry said funding for the military would reach 1.355 trillion yuan (US$209 billion) in 2021, while Premier Li Keqiang told the opening session of the national legislature that the People’s Liberation Army would get a training boost to improve combat readiness.
It comes as China is embroiled in multiple disputes, including along its Himalayan border with India, and with the United States and other nations in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait.
