China to hike defence spending by 7.2% to US$245b this year

China's defence budget will grow 7.2%, as the country continues to modernise its military. According to Asst Prof Dylan Loh, there are areas in spending that may not be completely captured in defence spending. Militaries have been using their spending on other purposes other than war, so military spending does not mean that China will move into a more assertive trajectory. Some of the spending can be used to help China play a peace-making or mediator role.

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