China’s liquid-fueled DongFeng-5C intercontinental strategic nuclear missiles, which have a global strike range, pass over Tian’anmen Square during the V-Day military parade on September 3, 2025 in Beijing, China.
China News Service | China News Service | fake images
BEIJING – China plans to increase its defense spending by 7% this year, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing official documents to be published later in the day.
That would mark the slowest increase in its annual military spending since 2021.
The proposal comes as conflict in the Middle East has escalated, amid a broader rise in geopolitical tensions.
Over the past three years, China has budgeted for a 7.2% annual increase in defense spending. Beijing had increased spending by 7.1% in 2022 and 6.8% in 2021, according to official data.
China will support faster development of advanced combat capabilities, Reuters said, as well as “high-quality” modernization of its national defense and armed forces.
Some of Beijing’s latest weapons systems, including long-range missiles, were displayed during a military parade in September.
China is set to begin its eight-day National People’s Congress on Thursday, an annual parliamentary meeting that officially approves the budget and development goals for the year.
Last year, China proposed a national defense budget of 1.78 trillion yuan ($244.99 billion at the time).
Beijing accounted for nearly 44% of Asia’s defense spending in 2025, up from 39% in 2017, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
China is also second only to the United States in terms of military spending.
The United States budgeted $849.77 billion for defense during fiscal year 2025. But estimates from the nonprofit USAFacts indicate that the United States ended up spending about $919.2 billion during that time, up 2% from the previous year and representing 13% of the federal budget.
