China is set to increase its defence spending by 7.2% to 1.67 trillion yuan in 2024, according to a budget report released by the Finance Ministry as part of the annual parliamentary sessions in Beijing.

Beijing has made consecutive increases in defence spending in recent years, with official figures indicating that the military budget rose by 6.6% in 2020, by 6.8% in 2021, by 7.1% in 2022 and by 7.2% in 2023, which proves the commitment and importance of the political and military leadership to strengthen the Armed Forces.

However, the People’s Liberation Army has faced several issues in recent times, most notably the extensive anti-corruption investigation by the relevant authorities under the orders of President Xi Jinping, which resulted in the impeachment of former Defence Minister Li Sangfu, while in July 2023, the command of the Strategic Missile Forces, responsible for the Chinese nuclear arsenal, “changed hands”.

As far as this sector is concerned, in 2023 China made a series of important procurements, including a significant increase in the number of nuclear warheads, as James Char, an analyst at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University specializing in Chinese military forces, told AFP.

On the other hand, the Swedish think tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) reports that China has strengthened its nuclear arsenal, as of the 350 nuclear warheads it possessed in 2022, it had 410 in 2023, but these figures are significantly behind compared to the 3,708 of the USA and 4,489 of Russia.

Analysts also stress that Chinese defence spending may be higher and not accurately presented, for obvious reasons, by the official budget.

With information from: Defense Post

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