China is set to raise its defense budget by 7.2 percent as Chinese leader Xi Jinping has given more heft to the military in a contested geopolitical environment.
China announced on Tuesday that it will spend $231.36 billion (1.66554 trillion yuan) on defense, maintaining its position as the world's second-highest defense spender behind the United States. In 2023, China increased its defense budget by 7.2 percent as well.
The defense budget was unveiled at the opening session of the National People's Congress, China's legislature, which began its annual session on Tuesday.
China's boost to defense spending comes as Xi has made repeated calls to prepare the military for war. The war preparedness is geared toward conflict over Taiwan and a potential direct clash with the U.S. Beijing claims Taiwan as its own, despite Taipei's repeated rejections.
China's boost to defense spending follows corruption within the People's Liberation Army (PLA), which brought down senior military leadership in recent months.
China has steadily increased its defense budget over the past five years, with a 7.1 percent spike in 2022, a 6.8 percent boost in 2021, a 6.6 percent climb in 2020, and a 7.5 percent growth in 2019, according to Janes Intelligence group, a specialist military and defense data provider which tracks China's defense budgets.
Beijing's official defense budget can be lower than the independent assessments of China's actual defense spending, according to the Swedish think tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
SIPRI estimated that Beijing spent $292 billion on defense in 2022, higher than the officially reported budget of $230 billion.
Xi hasn't minced his words regarding preparing the PLA for future combat scenarios.
"We should carry out the Party's idea of a strong army for the new era, implement the military strategic policy for the new era, anchor the goal of building an army for 100 years, and strive to create a new situation in the construction of war zones and preparation for war," Xi said in July 2023 while inspecting troops.
On Tuesday, Chinese Premier Li Qiang emphasized boosting the military's role at all levels of the government.
"Governments at all levels should strongly support national defense and military construction, carry out in-depth 'double support' work, and consolidate and develop military-government-military solidarity," Li said while delivering a work report on March 5.
Craig Singleton, senior director of the China Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), told Newsweek that higher defense investment indicates the regime's security will be paramount instead of the economy.
"Today's defense investments promise to yield significant returns tomorrow in safeguarding the Chinese Communist Party's long-term survival. For that reason, defense spending will continue to take priority over other economic considerations," Singleton said.
"In recent years, to better safeguard our sovereignty, security, and development interest, to meet the need for military transformation with Chinese characteristics, and to better perform China's international responsibilities and obligations as a major country, China has maintained reasonable and steady growth of its defense spending," Lou Qinjian, spokesperson for the second session of the 14th National People's Congress, said at a news conference in Beijing on Monday afternoon.
On the contrary, President Joe Biden signed an annual $886 billion defense bill late last year focused on supporting Ukraine and countering China as the primary long-term geopolitical adversary.
The U.S. Congressional Budget Office has proposed a defense budget of $842 billion for 2024, which will remain unchanged until 2028 when adjusted for inflation.
On February 13, the U.S. Senate passed a $95.3 billion foreign military bill to fund support packages for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. However, the bill is pending approval by the House of Representatives, including $4.83 billion in aid to assist Taiwan.
Newsweek contacted the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C. Newsweek also contacted the U.S. State Department for comment.
The Chinese military has suffered from rising graft cases in recent months, including the dismissal of senior leadership at the elite Rocket Force.
"The corruption in the Rocket Force and throughout the nation's defense industrial base was so extensive that U.S. officials believed Xi is less likely to contemplate major military action in the coming years than would otherwise have been the case, according to people familiar with the assessments who asked not to be named discussing intelligence," Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.
Xi has himself raised alarm about the deep-rooted problem of corruption in the military.
"We must strengthen the party's centralized and unified leadership in the fight against corruption," Xi said, according to remarks also carried by the party's official People's Daily newspaper.
Update 03/06/24, 03:18 am. ET: This article was updated with expert comment by Craig Singleton.
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Aadil Brar is a reporter for Newsweek based in Taipei, Taiwan. He covers international security, U.S.-China relations, and East Asian ... Read more
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