China's official defence budget for 2012 is set to top US$l00bn for the first time, rising 11% to US$106bn. This compared with a 2011 budget of US$91.5bn.The budget was announced at the annual National People's Congress in March. The US government and some independent analysts think that China spends far more than its stated budget on defence. The Center for Strategic and International Studies reported in October that in its view China's military budget had risen to US$224bn in 201, quadrupling since 2000. It was interesting to note that the official defence budget growth is this year set to outstrip GDP growth, which Beijing expects to come in at around 7.5%.
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