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Beijing's military spending still too low, general says

A general in charge of finance for China's military says Beijing doesn't spend enough on defense even after the announcement of another double-digit annual budget increase.

"Compared with other major countries in the world, the military expenditures of our country are still at a fairly low level," the official Xinhua News Agency quoted Major General Ding Jiye as saying.

China announced on Friday its military budget will rise 12.6 percent this year to 247.7 billion yuan (US$29.9 billion) -- a figure that analysts say is probably far less than its true spending.

It was the fourth double-digit increase in five years.

But China's budget "still can't fully meet the actual needs of pushing forward military reforms and building an IT-supported army," Ding said in comments released by Xinhua late Saturday.

Ding is head of the financial division of the General Logistics Department of the People's Liberation Army, according to Xinhua.
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