China will increase military spending by 12.2 percent this year to 808.23 billion yuan ($131.57 billion), the government said on Wednesday, partly to beef up coastal and air defenses and to develop more high-tech weapons.
The government announced its spending plan for the 2.3 million-strong People's Liberation Army (PLA) at the opening of parliament's annual meeting. The increase builds on a nearly unbroken run of double-digit hikes in the defense budget for the past two decades.
"We will comprehensively enhance the revolutionary nature of the Chinese armed forces, further modernize them and upgrade their performance, and continue to raise their deterrence and combat capabilities in the information age," Premier Li Keqiang told the largely rubber-stamp legislature.