However, in a break with recent practice, Zhang Yesui refused to provide a figure for the rate of growth in the national defense budget. That move follows complaints that China isn't open enough about how it funds its military or what the goals of its massive campaign of expansion and modernization are. He said China defended and contributed to the current United Nations-centered global order, but also said some reforms were necessary. China's defense spending as a share of GDP and the budget also remains lower than that of other major nations, he said. Years of double-digit percentage growth have given China the world's second-largest defense budget after the United States, which is in a class of its own with a proposed budget of $716 billion for next year.

Source: ABC News March 04, 2018 05:43 UTC