China Boosts Defense Spending as Military Modernizes Arsenal

China will boost defense spending 10.7 percent this year as the government modernizes its military arsenal and adopts a more assertive stance in territorial disputes with its neighbors.

Military spending is set to rise this year to 740.6 billion yuan ($119 billion) from 669.1 billion yuan, the Ministry of Finance said in a report. China has the second-biggest military budget in the world after the U.S., which spent nearly six times more on defense than China last year and is now cutting those outlays.