BEIJING (AP) -- China says it plans to boost defense spending by
11.2 percent in 2012, as strong economic growth continues to fuel
rapid military expansion.
The spokesman for the National People's Congress, Li Zhaoxing,
said Sunday that defense spending would hit 672.4 billion yuan
($106.7 billion) this year, an increase of about 67 billion yuan
over the actual spending in 2011.
China's official defense spending is the second-largest in the
world after the United States, but actual spending, according to
foreign defense experts, may be 50 percent higher, as China
excludes outlays for its nuclear missile force and other programs.