China proposes 7% increase in defense budget for 2026, maintaining single-digit growth trend

The Chinese government has proposed a defense budget of roughly 1.91 trillion yuan ($276.9 billion) for the 2026 fiscal year, a 7 percent year-on-year increase, according to a draft budget report submitted to the national legislature on Thursday morning.

If approved by lawmakers, the proposed expenditure will maintain single-digit growth for an 11th consecutive year since 2016, and will become the lowest percentage increase since the 2021 fiscal year, when national legislators green-lighted a 6.8-percent raise.

The figures were included in the report prepared by the Ministry of Finance and distributed to lawmakers at the opening meeting of the fourth session of the 14th National People's Congress in Beijing.

At the NPC session last year, the central government proposed a defense budget of 1.78 trillion yuan for the 2025 fiscal year, a 7.2 percent year-on-year increase. The 2024 defense budget was proposed at 1.67 trillion yuan, also raised by 7.2 percent.

The United States continues to be the world's largest spender on military affairs, setting a military budget for 2026 at over $1 trillion. A large proportion of the money would be used against China, according to the US' National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026.