China to boost defense spending by 7.6 percent

Chinese paramilitary policemen march during a flag raising on Tiananmen Square outside the Great Hall of the People where the annual National People’s Congress will open in Beijing, Saturday, March 5, 2016. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

BEIJING —An advance copy of the budget to China’s national congress says the government will increase national defense spending by 7.6 percent in 2016, the smallest increase in six years. It reflects slowing growth in the world’s second-largest economy and a drawdown of troops as Beijing seeks to build a more streamlined, modern military.

The figure in Saturday’s report comes a day after the spokeswoman for the legislature, the National People’s Congress, said China would boost defense spending by about 7 to 8 percent.

The People’s Liberation Army is being trimmed to 2 million troops from 2.3 million but will still be the world’s largest standing military. China’s plan to spend 954 billion yuan ($146 billion) on defense spending this year is still less than one-third of what the U.S. is proposing to spend this year.