Parliament spokeswoman Fu Ying told a news conference that the actual figure would be released on Thursday, when the annual session of the National People's Congress opens. Last year, defense spending rose 12.2 percent to $130 billion, second only to the United States.

 

The military build-up has jangled nerves around the region, particularly as China has taken an increasingly robust⁴ line on its territorial⁵ disputes in the East and South China Seas.

 

"Compared with great powers, the road ofChina's defense modernization⁶ is more difficult. We have to rely on ourselves for most of our military equipment and research and development," Fu said.

 

"In addition, we must strengthen the protection of our officers and soldiers. But fundamentally speaking,China's defense policy is defensive⁷ in nature. This is clearly defined in the constitution. We will not easily change this direction and principle."

 

While Beijing keeps the details of its military spending secret, experts have said additional funding would likely go towards beefing up the navy with anti-submarine ships and developing more aircraft carriers beyond the sole vessel⁸ in operation.

 

"Carriers have definitely got to be on the list," said John Blaxland, Senior Fellow at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at the Australian National University in Canberra.

 

"But also we've seen a massive surge in the number of submarines, and of course everybody loves submarines. The intimidatory⁹ effect of a submarine is hard to be beat."

 

Money would also likely go into cyber capabilities¹⁰ and satellites, Blaxland added.

 

China's leaders have routinely sought to justify¹¹ the country's military modernization by linking defense spending to rapid GDP growth. But growth of 7.4 percent last year was the slowest in 24 years, and a further slowdown to around 7 percent is expected in 2015.

 

"We have achieved so much success with reform and opening up, we have not relied on gunboats to develop roads, but instead we have relied on complete and mutual¹² beneficial cooperation," Fu said.

 

"We have been successful on this road, the road of peaceful development. We will adhere to the path of peaceful development."

 

The US military and diplomatic "rebalancing" towards Asia and President Xi Jinping's crackdown on corruption¹³ in the People's Liberation Army, which has caused some disquiet¹⁴ in the ranks, are among the other factors that have kept military spending high, experts have said.

 

Beijing also says it faces a threat from Islamist militants¹⁵ in the far western region of Xinjiang, and is drafting a new anti-terror law that will create a legal framework for sending troops abroad on counter-terrorism missions.

点击收听单词发音