China's annual defense budget 2008-2012 (figures approximate)

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Editor's notes:

China plans to raise its defense budget to 670 billion yuan (US$106.4 billion) in 2012. In 2011, China's military expenditures represented 1.28 percent of the country's GDP. Comparatively, in the United States and Britain, the figure was higher than 2 percent.

Chinese military spending, particularly the country's defense budget, is given high attention every year during the National People's Congress (NPC) sessions.

The following table shows China's defense budget figures and approximate year-on-year increase since 2008:

(The current foreign exchange rate between dollar and yuan is about 1 to 6.3)

Year	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
Defense budget	417.769 billion yuan	480.686 billion yuan	532.115 billion yuan	601.1 billion yuan	670.27 billion yuan
YoY defense budget increase	17.6%	15.1%	10.7%	13.0%	11.5%
Gross domestic product (GDP)	31.4045 trillion yuan	34.0903 trillion yuan	40.1513 trillion yuan	47.1564 trillion yuan	———— (to target at 7.5% increase)
Defense budget/GDP Ratio	1.33%	1.41%	1.33%	1.27%	————
State financial expenditures	6,259.266 billion yuan	7,629.993 billion yuan	8,987.416 billion yuan	10,893 billion yuan	————
Defense budget/State financial expenditures ratio	6.67%	6.30%	5.92%	5.52%	————