China boosts defense to 7.2%

Amid tensions with Taiwan China increased its defense spending to 7.2% to $230 billion this year to expand their military capabilities, according to information released in Beijing’s national budget. The spending increase will be proportionately higher than the country’s overall economic growth of 5%, as China seeks to rebound from sluggish growth throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. . The defense budget announced by Beijing is around one quarter of Washington’s proposed spending, and around 4.5 times greater than Japan’s budget. The 7.2% increase is the sharpest surge in China’s defense spending since 2019. It follows a 6.8% uptick in 2021 and 6.6% in 2020. In 2019, Asia’s leading military power oversaw a 7.5% increase in its defense budget to 1.19 trillion yuan – around $172 billion. The latest hike is the eighth consecutive single-digit annual increase in Beijing’s military budget. Defence analysts say this may heat-up the arms race amid Ukraine and Taiwan tensions