Worries over defense budget unwarranted

Editor's Note: China's defense budget growth has always been an easy target of some Western media outlets. Why does China need to steadily increase its defense budget? And why there is no need for the world to be worried about it? Two experts share their views on this issue with China Daily's Liu Jianna. Excerpts follow:

Defense budget growth normal and reasonable

Asked about this year's defense budget, Zhang Yesui, spokesman for the second session of the 13th National People's Congress said on Monday that it is necessary for China to reasonably increase its defense spending for military modernization. And China has the room of increasing its defense budget as the defense spending accounted for only 1.3 percent of its GDP in 2018 compared with more than 2 percent for main developed countries.