China maintains defence budget growth despite economic travails

At the 14th National People's Congress, China announced its defence budget for 2024 and interestingly maintained the growth rate of its military expenditure at precisely the same percentage as last year, as Chairman Xi Jinping continues to prioritize the People's Liberation Army (PLA) at the expense of other sectors of government funding.

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Indeed, according to figures released on the opening day of the Second Annual Session of this formal gathering of China's political leaders, the 2024 defense budget will rise 7.2 per cent to Chinese Yuan (CNY) 1.66554 trillion, which equates to USD 231.4 billion.

In contrast, the Chinese central government allocated just a 5 per cent rise in education spending to RMB 22.9 billion, and a 1.4 per cent rise in public security investment to RMB 31.6 billion. China predicted 5 per cent growth in GDP for the coming fiscal year. However, in the last fiscal year, the government experienced a deficit of RMB 4.9 trillion (USD 690 billion) as economic realities bite.

Last year, the defense budget grew 7.2 per cent too, compared to a 7.1 per cent jump in 2022, 6.8 per cent in 2021 and just a 6.6 per cent increase in 2020. The latter coincided with the first impact of COVID-19.