China raises 2018 defence budget by 8.1 percent

Beijing, Mar 5 China will raise its defence budget by 8.1 percent in 2018, up from a year ago's 7 percent, as the communist nation looks to shore up its military preparedness, according to a budget report submitted to the national council on Monday.

According to the report, 1.11 trillion yuan (175 billion US dollars) has been reserved in the resistance spending plan.

The development rate, albeit somewhat higher than the last two years, this is the third time that the figures are in single digits since 2013, after 7.6 percent in 2016 and 7 percent in 2017 respectively.

"China's defence budget takes up a littler share of its gross domestic product (GDP) and national fiscal expenditure compared with other major nations. It's military spending per capita is likewise lower than other significant nations", the Xinhua cited Zhang Yesui, the representative for the primary yearly session of the thirteenth National People's Congress (NPC) as saying.

"A large part of the growth of the defence budget is to compensate for the low military spending previously and is for the most part used to update gear and enhance the welfare of servicemen and ladies and the living and preparing states of grassroots troops," he included.

Also, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of China is anticipated to develop at around 6.5 percent for the year 2018-19, somewhat lower than past figures of 6.7 percent in 2016 and 6.9 percent in 2017 separately, but will stay as one of the world's fastest-growing economies in the world.

China's economy has been seeing a slowdown since 2015, as the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) needs to move towards an economy drove by consumption and services, as opposed to one driven by exports and investment