>Home>index
           
     

    Defence spend in tune with economic growth
    By Peng Guangqian (China Daily)
    Updated: 2006-03-15 05:45

    The just concluded session of the National People's Congress has made public the nation's 2006 defence expenditure 283.8 billion yuan (roughly US$35.1 billion), a 14.7 per cent increase on last year. The figure accounts for 7.4 per cent of the total financial expenditure.

    This signifies that the country's defence budget mechanism is operating in a smooth and steady manner, an indication that a beneficial cycle of interaction between defence spending and the national economy has now been set in motion. In the past the country has travelled through twists and turns in this regard.

    The economy constitutes the vital physical basis for defence, while defence provides the economy with indispensable security guarantees. Co-ordination is therefore needed to ensure that the two develop in harmony.

    Since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, authorities have had some success in handling the relationship between defence and economic development, but there have also been some mistakes.

    In the early 1950s, defence spending was as high as 42 per cent of the total budget, in the context of the Korean War. The defence budget accounted for 22.99 per cent in the early 1970s, when the country was believed to be threatened by outside imperialist and revisionist elements.

    The excessively heavy input into defence, though framed in particular historical contexts, imposed a heavy burden on the economy and hindered its development.

    Defence spending dropped sharply in the 1980s when the country became preoccupied with reviving the economy, devastated by the "cultural revolution" (1966-76). As a result, negative growth in defence spending was witnessed for seven years in a row during this period. The average negative growth rate was 3.99 per cent.

    The low investment in defence delayed the country's defence modernization and weakened the security assurance for the economy, although it removed a sizeable financial burden off the shoulders of the State.

    Since the early 1990s, however, the mechanisms of proper and balanced budgetary growth have been gradually introduced to defence spending, with the rapid development of the national economy as the guarantee.

    The new mechanisms basically contain the following principles.

    First, meeting the minimum security needs of the nation.

    Homeland defence is a Herculean task, taking into account the country's 9.6 million square-kilometre territory, 3 million square-kilometre territorial waters, the 22,000-kilometre-long land borders and 18,000-kilometre-long coastal lines.

    Moreover, power politics still exists in the geopolitical arena, and the root causes of war have not yet been uprooted.

    In addition, the country has to deal with secessionism, terrorism and extremism.

    In the face of such a grave security situation, we must make necessary defence investments to meet the minimum security needs of the country, ensuring that the nation's economic progress can be sustained, the sovereignty, territorial integrity and the maritime interests of the country are not encroached upon, and this golden opportunity for the country's overall development is not wasted.

    Second, determining the optimum defence spending ratio.

    Defence spending should not go beyond an economy's capacity to meet a nation's security requirements.

    What is needed is "proper proportion." Although China's defence budget has been on the rise over the past decade or so, it is still nowhere near some other countries either in actual amount or relative amount.

    The United States' defence budget in fiscal year 2006, for instance, stands at US$500 billion, compared with China's US$35.1 billion. According to statistics released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, in 2002 the total global military spending was US$794 billion, 2.5 per cent of the global GDP that year. The majority of countries spent on average 3 per cent of their GDP on defence, compared with 3.5 per cent by the United States.

    By contrast, China has been funnelling an average 1.43 per cent of its GDP into defence since 1986.

    In addition, the defence share is generally 12-16 per cent of a country's total financial expenditure, while China has been spending around 8 per cent for years.

    Third, switching from "maintaining status-quo" to "limited-growth" development mode.

    For a long time, China's defence budget has been divided into three categories: personnel cost, operational cost and equipment investment, each making up roughly one-third of the total.

    Currently, a significant portion of defence spending is used to make up for the deficits accumulated over the years and raise the income of servicemen. Investment in military equipment, therefore, is relatively low.

    Now that the pace of armament upgrading is accelerating around the world, China will be left way behind if it fails to raise military equipment investment. So, our input into military hardware is expected to increase modestly in the years to come, a shift towards a "limited growth" development mode.

    Fourth, optimizing use of funds.

    Taking into account the country's huge population, the still relatively weak economy and the fact that numerous sectors and undertakings clamour for money, the State is not expected to allocate sufficient money to fully meet the needs of the defence sector. Authorities should therefore strive to achieve the goal of using the money more efficiently.

    The author is a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Military Science.

    (China Daily 03/15/2006 page4)



    Tallest woman in Asia
    Volunteer: Learn to protect our environment
    China marks World Consumer Rights Day
      Today's Top News     Top China News
     

    US senators to visit China to talk trade issues

     

       
     

    Defence spend in tune with economic growth

     

       
     

    Consumption seen as new driver of growth

     

       
     

    General aviation sector to scale new heights

     

       
     

    Stringent checks on products assured

     

       
     

    US editors on visit to gain deeper insight

     

       
      Toll hits 21 in N. China coal mine blast
       
      Rolls-Royce wins follow-on China order
       
      Wen: We're watching secessionists moves
       
      Plagiarism, fake research plague academia
       
      China sets minimum age for TV contestants
       
      Communication channel with Dalai Lama open
       
     
      Go to Another Section  
     
     
      Story Tools  
       
      Related Stories  
       
    China's defense budget to exceed 280b yuan
       
    Bush budget favoring defense, security
       
    Bush to request $439.3B defense budget
       
    Japan cabinet approves US$685.3b draft budget for fiscal 2006
       
    UN reaches budget agreement
       
    Govt plans small cut in budget deficit
       
    Blair accused of 'surrender' over EU budget deal
    Manufacturers, Exporters, Wholesalers - Global trade starts here.
    Advertisement
             
    久久午夜无码鲁丝片| 亚洲AⅤ无码一区二区三区在线| 免费一区二区无码视频在线播放| 91天日语中文字幕在线观看| 88久久精品无码一区二区毛片 | 最近高清中文在线字幕在线观看| 免费无码黄十八禁网站在线观看 | 无套中出丰满人妻无码| 久久综合中文字幕| 中文字幕无码久久人妻| 精品久久久久久无码专区不卡| 亚洲欧美精品综合中文字幕| 中文字幕无码精品三级在线电影| 成年无码av片在线| 无码国产精品一区二区免费式芒果| 性无码专区一色吊丝中文字幕| 久久精品aⅴ无码中文字字幕不卡 久久精品人妻中文系列 | 国产成人无码综合亚洲日韩| 中文字幕无码日韩专区| 一二三四在线观看免费中文在线观看 | 精品久久久无码21p发布| 亚洲VA中文字幕无码毛片| 漂亮人妻被中出中文字幕久久| 精品久久久久久无码中文野结衣| 精品无码国产污污污免费网站| 小SAO货水好多真紧H无码视频 | 无码人妻AV一二区二区三区| 亚洲日韩激情无码一区| 亚洲中久无码永久在线观看同 | 日韩午夜福利无码专区a| 无码少妇精品一区二区免费动态| 成人A片产无码免费视频在线观看| 中文字幕51日韩视频| 中文字幕有码无码AV| 无码专区久久综合久中文字幕| 永久免费AV无码网站国产| 中文字幕有码无码AV| 亚洲国产精品无码一线岛国| 亚洲AV无码一区二区乱子伦| 亚洲av无码无在线观看红杏| 水蜜桃av无码一区二区|