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Chinese military receives funding backing
Maj Gen Jiang Luming, head of the Institute for Defence Economics at Chinas National Defence University, said in an article on Wednesday that China needed to increase its military spending from the current level of 1.4 per cent of gross domestic product to up to 2.8 per cent, in order to close the gap with military technology in developed countries.
His appeal which appeared in Study Times, the newspaper of the Communist partys Central Party School is part of intense lobbying efforts in readiness for the final draft of Beijings next five-year plan, which will determine funding for many departments and industries up until 2015. The military is pushing for a sustained effort to build Chinas indigenous military industrial capacity.
The call for a spending increase will further fuel concerns in the US and several of Chinas neighbours, about a more assertive military stance from Beijing.
During the past month, revelations surrounding three major Chinese arms projects the long-awaited confirmation of Chinas aircraft carrier programme, US claims that China is deploying a missile to threaten US carriers, and pictures revealing tests of Beijings first stealth fighter have done little to quell these concerns.
China put the increase in its official defence expenditure at 7.5 per cent last year, the first increase below 10 per cent since 1989, in an attempt to counter a China threat perception and reassure the international community about the countrys rise. The official defence budget for 2010 was Rmb532bn ($80.8bn).
But independent observers believe Beijings total military spending is much higher. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri), Chinas 2009 expenditure was second only to the US at US$100bn, or 2 per cent of its GDP. Sipri estimates that China increased its military expenditure by 217 per cent between 2000 and 2009, faster than any other major country.
Chinese government and military officials dismiss fears that their countrys military is overblown.
Due to a relative lack in funding, the pace of our militarys modernisation has suffered, Gen Jiang said. Even though the standard of our weaponry has been raised more in recent years, the reality is that our overall arms equipment standard still lags far behind the main developed nations has not changed in principle.
Sipri figures put Chinas defence spending at 2 per cent of GDP, while the US spends 4.5 per cent of GDP.
FT.com / Asia-Pacific - Chinese military receives funding backing
Maj Gen Jiang Luming, head of the Institute for Defence Economics at Chinas National Defence University, said in an article on Wednesday that China needed to increase its military spending from the current level of 1.4 per cent of gross domestic product to up to 2.8 per cent, in order to close the gap with military technology in developed countries.
His appeal which appeared in Study Times, the newspaper of the Communist partys Central Party School is part of intense lobbying efforts in readiness for the final draft of Beijings next five-year plan, which will determine funding for many departments and industries up until 2015. The military is pushing for a sustained effort to build Chinas indigenous military industrial capacity.
The call for a spending increase will further fuel concerns in the US and several of Chinas neighbours, about a more assertive military stance from Beijing.
During the past month, revelations surrounding three major Chinese arms projects the long-awaited confirmation of Chinas aircraft carrier programme, US claims that China is deploying a missile to threaten US carriers, and pictures revealing tests of Beijings first stealth fighter have done little to quell these concerns.
China put the increase in its official defence expenditure at 7.5 per cent last year, the first increase below 10 per cent since 1989, in an attempt to counter a China threat perception and reassure the international community about the countrys rise. The official defence budget for 2010 was Rmb532bn ($80.8bn).
But independent observers believe Beijings total military spending is much higher. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri), Chinas 2009 expenditure was second only to the US at US$100bn, or 2 per cent of its GDP. Sipri estimates that China increased its military expenditure by 217 per cent between 2000 and 2009, faster than any other major country.
Chinese government and military officials dismiss fears that their countrys military is overblown.
Due to a relative lack in funding, the pace of our militarys modernisation has suffered, Gen Jiang said. Even though the standard of our weaponry has been raised more in recent years, the reality is that our overall arms equipment standard still lags far behind the main developed nations has not changed in principle.
Sipri figures put Chinas defence spending at 2 per cent of GDP, while the US spends 4.5 per cent of GDP.
FT.com / Asia-Pacific - Chinese military receives funding backing
