China Maintains Double-digit Rise In Defence Spend

摘要

China plans to increase its Fiscal Year 2009 (F Y09) defence budget by 14.9 per cent to CNY480.7 billion (USD70.2 billion), a government spokesman said on 4 March.rnAccording to comments published by China's state-run news agency, the spokesman said the proposed military expenditure accounts for 6.3 per cent of the country's total budget for FY09, which is "slightly down" from previous years.rnHe added that the budget represents 1.4 per cent of China's GDP in 2008.rnThe increase marks a continuation of the annual double-digit increases that started in the early 1990s. It also follows respective 17.6 per cent and 17.8 per cent increases in FY08 and FY07.