Why is China increasing its military spending so much?

Russia spent $70 billion on defense in 2016, which is nearly a third of China's budget; however, Russian military spending increased nearly 50 percent from 2010 to 2016. read more

Meanwhile, the US is spending more than 4% of its GDP on military, an its military spending is more than the top other ten countries combined. With annual GDP growth of more than 7%, it is extremely normal for China to increase its military spending (or any other spending), not to mention US's pivot to Asia policy targeting China. read more

According to figures provided by SIPRI, China has increased its defense spending nearly fivefold over the last decade. China currently spends more on defense than Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, and Vietnam combined, and China’s military spending is second only to the United States. read more

China announced 04 March 2017 its defense budget will increase by about 7 percent, the second year in a row China has kept its military spending to a single digit percentage increase. China will increase its defence budget in 2017 to CNY1.04 trillion (US$151 billion). read more