PLA budget growth to slow due to downturn, according to Xi Jinping
Military must spend more wisely amid leaner economic times, China’s president says
Chinese President Xi Jinping said the nation’s military budget would not be able to maintain a “normal growth” rate because of the economic downturn and called on the army to be prudent in its spending.
In the second of a series of articles elaborating on the president’s vision for the army, the PLA Daily on Tuesday quoted Xi as saying that military resources were not being properly managed, and the army should avoid big projects that required a lot of money but did not yield results.
“In the face of mounting pressure resulting from the economic downturn, with a slowdown in budgetary income and growing expenditure, it is not easy to secure a normal rise in the military budget any more,” the article said.
To the surprise of many Chinese military watchers, the National People’s Congress announced in March that defence spending would grow 7.6 per cent this year to 954 billion yuan (HK$1.13 trillion) – the first single-digit increase since 2010.
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Some members of the military said the 7.6 per cent rise was much lower than they had expected. A 20 per cent increase was required as the army was undergoing reforms and greater advances in technology were needed, they said.