China says booming military spending contributed to 'global peace, stability'
Sydney, Mar 4 : China has defended its booming military spending, saying its vast investments in the armed forces have contributed to global peace and stability.
Chinese defence spending has grown substantially each year for more than two decades, and last year rose 11.2 per cent to 670.2 billion Yuan, an increase of about 67 billion yuan.
Only the United States spends more on defence.
According to the Herald Sun, no figure for this year's defence budget was presented by the Chinese government at a news conference held on Monday.
Spokeswoman Fu Ying said the figure would appear in the overall budget to be released on Tuesday.
Fu cited UN peacekeeping and anti-piracy patrols as examples of China's contribution to world peace and stability, the report said.