China’s liquid-fueled intercontinental strategic nuclear missile Dongfeng-5C, which has a global range, passes through Tiananmen Square during the V-Day military parade in Beijing, China, on September 3, 2025.
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BEIJING – China plans to increase defense spending by 7% this year, the slowest annual military spending growth since 2021, according to a budget plan released by the Ministry of Finance on Thursday.
The proposal comes amid widespread heightened global geopolitical fault lines, escalating conflict in the Middle East and continuing tensions over Taiwan.
For the past three years, China has budgeted for an annual increase in defense spending of 7.2%. According to official data, the Chinese government increased spending by 7.1% in 2022 and 6.8% in 2021.
The Chinese government will accelerate the development of advanced combat capabilities and pursue “high-quality” modernization of its national defense and military, according to a government work report released on Thursday.
The work report also focused on China’s first domestically built aircraft carrier Fujian, which was commissioned in November 2025. A military parade in September displayed some of China’s latest weapons systems, including long-range missiles.
The Chinese government also said it would “resolutely fight against separatist forces aiming for ‘Taiwan independence’ and oppose external interference.”
China is scheduled to open an eight-day National People’s Congress on Thursday. The National People’s Congress is the annual parliamentary meeting that formally approves the year’s budget and development goals.
Last year, China proposed a defense budget of 1.78 trillion yuan ($244.99 billion at the time). But analysts believe the official figures are an underestimate and exclude important “off-budget” items.
According to the 2025 report on China’s military submitted to Congress by the U.S. Department of Defense, the Chinese government will spend $304 billion to $377 billion on national defense in 2024, about 32% to 63% more than the officially announced budget of $231 billion.
China will account for nearly 44% of Asia’s defense spending in 2025, up from 39% in 2017, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
China also ranks second in military spending after the United States.
The United States budgeted $849.77 billion for defense in fiscal year 2025. But the U.S. ended up spending about $919.2 billion during that period, up 2% from a year earlier and accounting for 13% of the federal budget, according to estimates by the nonprofit group USAFacts.
