China Announces Increase in Defense Spending and Economic Growth Targets at People’s Congress Meeting

Mar 5, 2024 at 6:45 AM Update: an hour ago

China will spend 7.2 percent more on defense this year. The government in Beijing is also aiming for economic growth of 5 percent. The ruling Communist Party announced this at the opening of the annual meeting of the People’s Congress.

Beijing expects to spend 1,670 billion yuan (214 billion euros) on defense this year. That is still less than a third of what the United States spends on its military. In recent years, China has spent about 6.6 percent more on defense each year than the previous year.

The expected economic growth of 5 percent for China is much higher than the growth expectation of 0.9 percent for the eurozone. But it is already well below the double-digit growth that propelled the world’s second-largest economy for years.

Last year, President Xi Jinping was appointed to a historic third term in office. That was a confirmation of his position as the most powerful leader since Mao Zedong. A year later, the focus of the thousands of party delegates gathering in Beijing for the annual meeting is largely on the difficult economic situation.

The country is dealing with high youth unemployment, deflation and a real estate crisis. China, the world’s largest exporter, is also feeling the effects of a cooling global economy.

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Image: AFP

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2024-03-05 05:45:14
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