China will make a significant boost to the budget of its People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) amid the continuing perception the Trump administration is bent on fighting a war in the South China Sea.

China will reveal its defense budget for 2017 at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in Beijing starting March 3. Speculation is rife that money intended for PLAN will make a huge leap given the growing bitterness between Washington and Beijing over the South China Sea.

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China makes it a point not to reveal exactly how much it spends on the PLAN. China said its "official" defense spending for 2016 for all services amounted to only $139 billion, most likely an understatement, according to diplomats.

PLAN has received a lot of new spending over the past 15 years, according to western analysts, who also noted the stepped-up pace of warship construction. China is currently building one corvette every six weeks, for example.

China will almost double its military spending this decade to $233 billion in 2020 compared to $123 billion in 2010, according to a new report.

Analysts said the 2017 budget for the PLAN is also intended to allow China to curb U.S. dominance of the high seas and boost its own power projection capability worldwide.

"It's opportunity in crisis," said a Beijing-based Asian diplomat about China naval build-up. "China fears Trump will turn on them eventually as he's so unpredictable, and it's getting ready."

Trump has vowed to increase the size of the U.S. Navy to 350 ships from the current 290 as part of "one of the greatest military buildups in American history," a move aides say is needed to counter China's rise.

The U.S. Navy, however, only plans to have 308 warships, an effort that will cost the American taxpayer a mammoth $566 billion and will take over 30 years to complete.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO), which made this cost assessment, also estimated the United States will have to spend $19 billion a year for the new ships, an amount 36 percent higher than the historical average of $14 billion the Navy normally spends for warship construction every year.

Ship construction will be a phased approach. Seven ships will be built this year; 38 ships between 2017 and 2021 and another 216 ships between 2022 and 2046.  

Tagschina, People's Liberation Army Navy, PLAN, 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, United States, U.S. Navy