BEIJING (REUTERS, XINHUA) – China’s 2019 defence spending will rise 7.5 per cent from 2018, according to a budget report issued at the opening of the country’s annual meeting of parliament on Tuesday (March 5).

The increase is lower than last year’s 8.1 per cent. The 2019 defence budget will be 1.19 trillion yuan (S$240 billion) dollars), figures from the report show.

The rate marks a fourth straight year for the budgeted growth rate to dip into the single digit since 2016, following five consecutive years of double-digit increases.

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