“China is committed to the path of peaceful development and follows a national defense policy that is defensive in nature,” Li said. “You see, China has 1.3 billion people, a large territory and long coastline, but our defense spending is relatively low compared with other major countries.”
Last year’s military spending amounted to 1.28 percent of China’s economy, Li said. By contrast, the ratio stood at 4.8 percent for the US in 2010, according to the World Bank.
The increase in defense spending is part of China’ long-term military modernization process, but also is partly spurred by Obama’s new emphasis on the Asia-Pacific, said Sarah McDowall, a senior analyst at IHS Jane’s, a London-based security consultancy.
“It is important to note that Beijing views itself as reacting to the increasingly assertive policies of other countries and has repeatedly said that it does not want to provoke military confrontation,” McDowall was quoted as saying in a news release.
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