Defense budget to rise by 17.6%

The government plans to increase the defense budget by 17.6 percent this year to increase benefits for military personnel, a senior official said yesterday.

The planned allocation for the People's Liberation Army this year is 417.77 billion yuan ($58.79 billion), a rise of 62.379 billion yuan ($8.23 billion) from actual military spending last year, Jiang Enzhu, spokesman for the annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC), told a press conference.

Jiang said the increased amount would be used to raise the pay of service personnel and offset the impact of price hikes. More money will also be spent on education and training.