China’s defence budget to cross $150-billion mark

“China’s economy is like a butterfly trying to emerge from a chrysalis – there is promise but it can not be achieved without pain”, Premier Li Keqiang told almost 3,000 delegates at the National People’s Congress in the cavernous hall at the heart of Beijing.

The White House has proposed a 10 percent increase in military spending to $603 billion, even though the United States has wound down major wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and is already the world’s pre-eminent military power.

The 2016 figure marked the first time since 2010 that spending growth did not rise into double figures.

Chinese cities under pressure from soaring home prices need to boost land supply appropriately while authorities take measures to fight an inventory overhang in smaller cities, Premier Li Keqiang said on Sunday.

Just days after US President Donald Trump outlined plans to raise American military spending by around 10 percent, a spokeswoman for China’s parliament told reporters that future Chinese expenditures will depend on US actions in the region.

Fu went on to say that concerns over navigational freedom in the SCS are misleading and uncalled for.

Tensions in the South China Sea have been particularly acute in the past three years, as China has built seven artificial islands the US and its allies fear could be used to enforce Beijing’s extensive maritime claims in the area.

Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have counter claim over the South China Sea. Beijing has reportedly deployed anti-aircraft and anti-missile systems to some of the outposts there despite a 2015 pledge by Chinese President Xi Jinping not to further “militarize” the islands.

“The gap in capabilities with the U.S.is enormous, but China’s military development and construction will continue in keeping with our need to defend our national sovereignty and security”, Ms Fu said.

“We will ensure order in the financial sector and build a firewall against financial risks”, he said, adding that it will steadily push forward with de-leveraging, mainly in the non-financial corporate sector.

Meanwhile, White House spokesman Sean Spicer vowed in January that the US would stand up to China in the South China Sea. Some U.S. officials are pushing for the Navy to send ships and aircraft to conduct regular “freedom of navigation” operations near China’s artificial islands.

China will also maintain a prudent and neutral monetary policy, he said.

China maintains that the United States has no place in the dispute and regularly accuses the USA government of “meddling” in Asian affairs. “But the fact China kept it at this level means it’s in a wait-and-see mode regarding the Trump administration”.

There have also been frequent exchanges of visits by leaders of the two countries, and the two militaries visit each other every year, the spokesperson said, adding China and India have also established a mechanism to jointly combat cross-border crimes and terrorism. “But in fact there is a still a huge gap in ability between the USA and China, which is still a developing country”, she was further quoted. “We will stop reform efforts, including restructuring of state-owned enterprises, if the society becomes unstable due to unemployment and other issues”, the official said.