China to raise defense budget by 8.1% in 2018

China will raise its defense budget by 8.1 percent in 2018, up slightly from last year's 7 percent, but still considered moderate in view of the country's size, economic volume and security demands. Read more

A soldier assigned to an assault detachment of a brigade with the airborne troops under the PLA Air Force fires a rocket launcher system at simulated targets during a live-fire training exercise in central China's Hubei Province on February 7, 2018
(Credit: eng.chinamil.com.cn/Dong Huaiyin and Liu Jie)

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