China's defense budget growth slows (2)

"Unless there is a major change in the regional situation in the coming years, I expect that this policy is likely to continue," Samuel said.

According to Samuel, China is increasing military spending as a natural result of its economic growth.

NPC deputy Chen Zhou said the quantity and scale of the defense budget should correspond to the requirements of national defense and match national economic development.

Chen, a major contributor to the drafting of China's defense white paper, said: "Compared to major world military powers, China's military still lags behind in terms of technology."

Yin Zhuo, director of the Expert Consultation Committee of the People's Liberation Army navy, said: "The PLA is at a stage of intensifying efforts to accomplish the dual historic tasks of military mechanization and full IT application. It is a critical moment that calls for greater defense expenditure."

Experts added that China's work on peacekeeping, naval escort missions, humanitarian aid and fighting terrorism is often several times, or even dozens of times, more costly than domestic missions.

China is the largest personnel contributor to UN peacekeeping missions among the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.

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