China to have world’s most powerful army by…? Xi Jinping’s MASTERPLAN revealed, Beijing to increase defence budget by…

China defense budget is 1.78 trillion yuan (about $249 billion), which is roughly less than a third of US defense budget of $850 billion for 2025.

China Defense Budget: Chinese President Xi Jinping wants to build the world’s most powerful Army by 2035, and to that end, Beijing on Wednesday announced its defense budget for the 2025, which sees an increment of 7.2 percent, continuing the trend witnessed during recent years. China’s defense is second-largest military budget in the world after the United States.

China expands military budget

According to available data China’s defense budget is 1.78 trillion yuan (about $249 billion), which is roughly less than a third of US defense budget of $850 billion for 2025. However, in terms of active military personnel, China is far ahead of its arch rival as Beijing has aggressively increased the number of soldiers in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in recent years.

As per defence analysts, the Chinese Navy has already surpassed its US counterpart in building building warships, and now, China plans to enhance its Army and the Air Force, to bring them at par, or even surpass the United States.

Beijing’s true military spending remains secret

According to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SUPRI), China military budget totaled 1.6 percent of its GDP in 2024, which is far less compared to US and Russia, however, experts suspect that Beijing hides its true military spending, and its defense budget is merely a smokescreen to divert attention from its mega defense projects such as the development of a 6th generation combat jet, a prototype of which was unveiled at last year Zhuhai Air Show.

China tries to prevent its defense budget from being viewed as “aggressive”, but the manner in which it has rapidly modernized its military prowess in recent years has raised suspicions in the US as well as its neighboring countries like Japan, India and the Philippines, experts say, adding that China also spends a massive sum on its defense sector through different projects.

China is embroiled in a territorial dispute with Japan in the East China Sea, while it has created a complete hegemony in the South China Sea, completely trampling the rights of neighboring countries like the Philippines, Indonesia, Brunei and Malaysia.

Beijing, which claims sole right to the South China Sea, continuously displays its maritime strength in the region, and has built several artificial islands, which it can use as military platforms during wartime.

Alarm for neighboring countries

China’s increasing military expenditure has raised alarm bells in its neighboring countries, especially Taiwan, which fears that China might launch an invasion, sooner rather than later as Chinese President Xi Jinping has not ruled out the “use of force” to merge Taiwan with China.

Notably, the news about China increasing its defense budget comes at a time when representatives of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), have gathered in Beijing for the inaugural session of the National People’s Congress (Chinese Parliament).

Addressing the session, Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang said that Beijing will “strongly oppose separatist activities aimed at Taiwan’s independence and external interference in order to promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations”.

China has dubbed its military budget a “defensive” expenditure, and claims that the sole purpose of military spending is to protect its sovereignty.