China said its defense spending would grow by 7.2% this year — the fastest pace since 2019 amid increasing tensions with the US on a range of issues, including Taiwan.
Military expenditure is expected to rise to 1.55 trillion yuan ($225 billion) in 2023, according to the Ministry of Finance’s annual report released Sunday at the start of the National People’s Congress in Beijing. Spending on the People’s Liberation Army has increased by at least 6.6% each year for the past three decades, keeping pace or often exceeding economic growth, although the figure is far surpassed by the US’s military expenditures.
