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China's defense spending still fairly low
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-03-06 21:48
China's defense spending, slated to rise 11.6 percent this year, is
proportionately lower than that of many nations and the principle of building
the army through frugality should be adhered to, the military's top budget
official said Saturday.
The budgeted military spending of 21.83 billion yuan (about 2.6 billion US
dollars), submitted to the national legislature on Saturday, accounts for only
around 1.7 percent of China's total GDP volume. Compared with the world's
average level of 3 percent, China's defense expenditure is still at a fairly low
level, said Ding Jiye, head of finances for the People's liberation Army's
General Logistics Department, in an exclusive interview with Xinhua.
China's military expenditure only makes up 8 percent of the country's total
financial expenditure, still lower than the world's average level of 15 percent.
The per capita military expenditure of the United States is nearly 300,000 US
dollars, and the figures in Britain and Japan are nearly 200,000 US dollars,
compared with China's 10,000 US dollars.
"In general, China's defense expenditure is still at a fairly low level,
compared with the major countries of the world. The current defense expenditure
hardly meets the needs of furthering military reform and building a technically
advanced army," Ding said.
He noted that the army has scored some achievements in the reforms in its
budget system, procurement system and social security system, and the principle
of building an army through hard work and frugality should be further adhered
to.
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