China’s will boost defense spending by 17.8 percent in 2007, accelerating the emerging power’s string of annual double-digit rises in money for a modern military that reflects its economic strength.
Jiang Enzhu, spokesman for the National People’s Congress, said on Sunday that the planned budget for the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) this year was 350.92 billion yuan, or about $44.94 billion, an increase of 52.99 billion yuan on 2006.
China’s rising military spending since the 1990s followed many years of slimmed budgets and would not threaten other countries, Jiang said.

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