China to spend 10% more on military

(ANSA) - Rome, March 4 - A Chinese official said Wednesday China's military budget is set to rise by about 10% in 2015 in a move designed to keep modernising the People's Liberation Army - the world's largest standing military.
    Fu Ying, spokeswoman for China's annual parliament session the National People's Congress (NPC), gave the "rough" figure and said it was in line with overall spending growth. A formal announcement will be made on Thursday when the NPC opens. China has seen several years of double-digit defence spending increases. It is the world's second-highest military spender, but remains far behind the US. Last year, China's defence spending rose 12.2% to $130bn. In comparison, for the fiscal year 2016 US President Barack Obama has requested a budget of $585bn.