BEIJING – China, the world’s second largest military spender after the US,Tuesday announced a 7.5 per cent increase in its defence budget for thisyear, hiking it to a whopping USD 177.61 billion, over three times that ofIndia.

The 2019 defence budget will be 1.19 trillion yuan (about USD 177.61billion), according to a draft budget report to be submitted at the openingof the annual session of China’s Parliament, the National People’s Congress(NPC), on Tuesday.

The increase this year is lower than that of last year’s 8.1 per cent whichamounted to USD 175 billion.

China, which increased its defence budget in double digits till 2015, hasbeen lowering it to single digit hikes since 2016. China’s budgeted defencespending growth rate stood at 7.6 per cent in 2016, 7 per cent in 2017 and8.1 per cent in 2018.

With this year’s increase, China’s defence spending moved closer to the USD200 billion mark, making it the highest spender on defence after the UnitedStates.

In recent years, China has resorted to major reforms of its military, whichincluded giving priority to expand its navy and air force to enhance itsinfluence abroad, while cutting down three lakh troops of the People’sLiberation Army (PLA).

Even after the cuts, the PLA is the world’s biggest military with twomillion personnel in its ranks.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, who has vowed to turn the PLA into a “worldclass” military by mid-century, has repeatedly called on the army to becombat-ready.

The hike comes as Beijing steps up its efforts to assert its vastterritorial claims in the disputed South China Sea.

Describing China’s defence budget increases in recent years as reasonableand appropriate, NPC spokesman Zhang Yesui said the raise aimed to “meetthe country’s demand in safeguarding national security and military reformwith Chinese characteristics”.

In his preparatory media conference on Monday, Zhang put up a staunchdefence of China’s continued heavy spending on defence, saying it was stillless compared to other “major developing countries'” military expenditure.

“Whether a country is a military threat to others or not is not determinedby its increase in defence expenditure, but by the foreign and nationaldefence policies it adopts,” he said.

Compared to other countries, China’s defence budget accounted for 1.3 percent of the GDP, while major developing countries spent two per cent GDP ontheir defence, Zhang added.