AFP — China to increase defence spending by '7-8%' in 2016 - official

The rise to around $150bn a year is still dwarfed by the US budget which stands at $573bn.…

Defence spending last year was budgeted to rise 10.1% to 886.9bn yuan ($135.39bn)….
“China’s military budget will continue to grow this year but the margin will be lower than last year and the previous years,” said Fu Ying, spokeswoman for the national people’s congress (NPC), the Communist-controlled parliament.

“It will be between seven to eight percent.”

The slowdown in spending comes as president Xi Jinping seeks to craft a more efficient and effective People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the world’s largest standing military. The

Many analysts believe China’s actual military spending is significantly higher than officially publicised.

Analysts may believe that because China gets more bang for the buck that the US. The total spending is not particularly indicative of the overall result. China is allocating much of its military spending to asymmetric warfare to counter the overwhelming advantage of the US, as well as to develop effective deterrence as well as defense.

Guardian
China to increase defence spending by '7-8%' in 2016 - official
AFP