Defense budget to grow 14.9% in 2009 |

Defense budget to grow 14.9% in 2009

BEIJING — China plans to increase its defense budget by 14.9 percent in 2009, a parliament spokesman said in Beijing on Wednesday.

The planned defense budget is 480.686 billion yuan ($70 billion), a rise of 62.482 billion yuan from last year, Li Zhaoxing, spokesman for the second session of the 11th National People’s Congress (NPC), told a press conference.

Defense spending accounts for 6.3 percent of the country’s total fiscal expenditure in 2009, slightly down from the level of previous years, Li said.

The budget rise follows a 17.6 percent increase in 2008 compared with the previous year.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2009-03/04/content_7535244.htm

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