China on Saturday announced that it will increased the military spending by merely 7% this year, marking smallest increase in seven years and second year in a row that the military expenditure has not increased in double digit.

The decision on China's military budget comes just ahead of the Chinese parliament's annual meeting. The decision also comes during the ongoing THAAD tension with South Korea and also days after President Donald Trump announced that there would be a huge boost in U.S. defence expenditure.  

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The National People's Congress (NPC) spokeswoman Fu Ying said that the proposed military budget is based on the "defense needs as well as the national economy" and would account for 1.3% of China's projected GDP in 2017.  

Ms Fu underscored the fact that China's military was purely focused on defending its sovereignty and maintaining stability in Asia. "We advocate dialogue for peaceful resolutions, while at the same time, we need to possess the ability to defend our sovereignty and interests," she said.

Until last year, China's military budget has been increasing in double digit, a trend that particularly started from 2010. The double digit growth was partly propelled by last decade's impressive economic growth rate, which gave Chinese government the financial muscle to lavishly spend on modernizing the country's military hardware.

Beijing's military ambitions are equally been driven by geo-political concerns, especially with regards to South China Sea and East China Sea. The Chinese government has spent billions of dollars on building artificial islands and conducting military drills in the disputed region of South China Sea.

However, China's military budget is still a far cry from America's annual military budget, which in 2015 accounted for 36% of global military spending, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

Meanwhile, the precise figures about China's military spending for 2017 will be known when Premier Li Keqiang addresses the National People's Congress on Sunday.     

Tagschina, China's Military Budget, Chinese military, China’s Military Spending