China’s air force shows off its L15 Falcon trainer at the Zhuhai Air Show in 2022. The country has a deal to export the aircraft to the United Arab Emirates.
Future Publishing | Future Publishing | Getty Images
BEIJING — China is set to increase defense spending this year by 7.2% to 1.56 trillion yuan ($230 billion), according to a draft released Sunday by the Ministry of Finance.
China’s defense budget grew by 7.1% last year to 1.45 trillion yuan, faster than the 6.8% increase in 2021 and 6.6% climb in 2020, according to official data.
In 2019, China’s defense spending rose by 7.5% to 1.19 trillion yuan.
The U.S. government in December authorized over $800 billion in defense spending for the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30, 2023. In addition to domestic inflation, the spending plan pointed to the need to counter Chinese and Russian military capabilities.
That’s significantly higher than prior years.
In fiscal year 2022, the U.S. spent $767 billion, or 12% of its budget, on national defense, according to Treasury data. That was about 2% more than the $755 billion spent in 2021, the data showed.
This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.
