China hikes it’s defence budget to USD 200bn for the first time

• Premier Li Keqiang on Friday stated that China has set its annual growth rate for 6% and pointed towards the rapid recovery of the economy after a year of the Pandemic.

• Last year, it was the first time, that China didnt forecast its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in lieu of uncertainty of the businesses and market amidst the pandemic.

• In a massive move, China also hiked its defence budget for the first time to more than USD 200 billion.

• This is approximately three times more than the defence budget of India. And with this, China’s defence budget becomes one quarter of US defence budget, which is USD 740.5 billion.

• Defence minister Premier Li also mentioned about ‘major successes’ of the Chinese armed forces last year. Adding that 60,000 armed forces were mobilised for annual exercises.