The Chinese government has proposed a defense budget of roughly 1.91 trillion yuan ($276.9 billion) for the 2026 fiscal year, a 7 percent year-on-year increase, according to a draft budget report submitted to the national legislature on Thursday morning.
If approved by lawmakers, the proposed expenditure will maintain single-digit growth for an 11th consecutive year since 2016, and will become the lowest percentage increase since the 2021 fiscal year, when national legislators green-lighted a 6.8-percent raise.
The figures were included in the report prepared by the Ministry of Finance and distributed to lawmakers at the opening meeting of the fourth session of the 14th National People's Congress in Beijing.
