China hiked its annual defence budget by 7.1 percent to USD 230 billion from last year's USD 209 billion. China's defence budget is over three times that of India's defence budget of 5.25 lakh crore or about USD 70 billion, for 2022.

China's hike in defence spending comes amid the growing incidents of muscle-flexing of the People's Liberation Army in the strategic Indo-Pacific region. Besides the defence budget, China has a separate internal security budget which often surpasses the defence spending.

Last year, China's defence spending for the first time crossed USD 200 billion. In 2021, the defence budget grew by 6.8 percent to USD 209 billion.

According to the draft budget proposals presented by Premier Li Keqiang to the National People's Congress (NPC), Premier Li called for deepening comprehensive combat readiness from the People's Liberation Army (PLA). He said the PLA needs to carry out military struggles in a resolute and flexible manner to defend the country's sovereignty, security and development interests.

“This year, we will fully implement Xi Jinping's thinking on strengthening the armed forces and the military strategy for the new era, work toward the goals for the centenary of the People's Liberation Army in 2027, and strengthen Party leadership and Party building in all aspects of the military”, he added.

The defence spending increased over the years as the all-around development of China's military became the focus of President Xi Jinping ever since taking over power in 2012. Xi, who heads the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) besides the military and Presidency, has also carried out extensive reforms of the military including downsizing of the army and enhancing the role of the navy and air force as Beijing set its sights on global expansion with military bases in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa.