China to boost defence budget by 11.2% for 2012: NPC spokesman

Li Zhaoxing, spokesman for the Fifth Plenary Session of the 11th National People's Congress (NPC) gives a press conference in the Great Hall of the People, ahead of the session's opening in Beijing on March 4.  [Feng Yongbin/chinadaily.com.cn]

China said Sunday it plans to raise its defense budget by 11.2 percent to 670 billion yuan ($106.4 billion) in 2012.

The year's draft defense budget is 67.6 billion yuan ($10.7 billion) more than that of 2011, said Li Zhaoxing, spokesman for the annual session of China's national legislature.

"The Chinese government follows the principle of coordinating defense development with economic development. It sets the country's defense spending according to the requirement of national defense and the level of economic development," Li said.

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