BEIJING – China announced on Monday an 8.1 percent defence budget increasefor 2018, giving the world´s largest armed forces a boost after spendingslowed in the previous two years.

Beijing will spend 1.11 trillion yuan ($175 billion) on its military,according to a budget report presented before the opening session of theannual National People´s Congress, according to the official Xinhua newsagency.

The outlay compares with a seven percent increase last year and 7.6 percentin 2016, which marked the first time in six years that spending growth wasnot in double figures.

China spent $151 billion on the People´s Liberation Army last year, thesecond largest defence budget in the world but still four times less thanthe $603 billion US outlay, according to the International Institute forStrategic Studies, a London-based think tank.

The defence budget increase has roughly followed the same pace as China´snational economic output in recent years. The economy grew by 6.9 percentin 2017 and the government said Monday it will target growth of around 6.5percent in 2018.

China´s neighbours and the United States have watched warily as Beijing hasmodernised the world´s largest army, reducing its ground troops to twomillion soldiers while spending on state-of-the-art hardware and weapons. -APP/AFP