China’s defence budget will rise about 10 per cent this year in an attempt to narrow a “gap” with potential adversaries¹, a Chinese official said on Wednesday. The comments indicate that Beijing intends to prioritise military spending, even as economic growth slows.

一位中国官员周三表示，今年中国的国防预算将增长10%左右，以求缩小与潜在对手之间的“差距”。此言表明，北京将优先安排军费开支，即便经济增长正在放缓。

Fu Ying, a spokeswoman for the annual session of the National People’s Congress, China’s rubber stamp parliament, said the figure for defence spending growth this year would be “about 10 per cent”.

全国人大（中国的橡皮图章议会）年会女发言人傅莹表示，今年国防开支增长幅度将是“10%左右”。

“There is still a gap between China’s armed forces in terms of overall military equipment. We still need more time,” she said. “Lagging behind leaves one vulnerable to attacks. That is a lesson we have learnt from history.”

“实事求是地讲，我们国家整体军备的水平还是有差距的，还是需要时间的，”她说。“我们的历史教训，落后就要挨打，这个我们不会忘记。”

Sam Perlo Freeman, an analyst² with the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, said the figure was in line with recent trends. With a projected inflation rate of 2.5 per cent, the real-terms increase works out at about 7.3 per cent, he said. Annual gross domestic product growth fell to 7.4 per cent last year and was expected to decline further in 2015.

斯德哥尔摩国际和平研究所(SIPRI)分析师萨姆•珀洛-弗里曼(Sam Perlo-Freeman)表示，这个数字符合近年的增长趋势。他表示，鉴于预期通胀率为2.5%，实际增幅将为大约7.3%。去年中国国内生产总值(GDP)年度增幅降至7.4%，预计2015年将进一步下降。

“It will leave China’s military spending as a share of GDP more or less unchanged,”Mr Freeman said. “The overall trend over the years has been for military spending to keep pace with GDP growth.”

“这将意味着中国的军费开支与GDP的比例基本保持不变，”弗里曼表示。“这些年来的总体趋势是军事开支与GDP增长保持同步。”

Global arms experts estimate actual spending by China may be anywhere from 40-55 per cent more than the stated defence budget because it does not include the costs of high-tech³ weapons imports, research and development, pensions and maintenance of nuclear forces.

全球军备专家估计，中国的实际军费支出可能比公布的国防预算高出40%至55%，因为后者不包括高科技武器的进口、研发、养老金以及维持核打击力量的费用。

The Chinese defence budget has risen by double digits⁴ in nominal⁵ terms every year except one in the past two decades. A 10 per cent increase would bring the total military budget to about $145bn, the second-biggest in the world.

过去20年来，除了一年以外，中国的国防预算按名义价值计算年年达到两位数增幅。10%的增长将使今年军费预算总额达到大约1450亿美元，为全球第二大国防预算。

However, this level of defence spending is still dwarfed⁶ by the US, which annually⁷ spends more than the next 10 largest defence spenders put together. The Pentagon’s budget request for 2015-16 is about $585bn.

不过，这一水平的国防开支与美国相比仍相形见绌。美国的年度国防预算超过排在其之后10个国家的国防预算之和。五角大楼对2015-16年度的预算申请约为5850亿美元。

Despite the large gap, China’s increased military spending has alarmed the US, in part because Beijing is focused mainly on Asia while the US military presence is spread around the world.

尽管存在很大差距，但中国增加军费已经惊动了美国，部分原因是北京方面主要专注于亚洲，而美国的军事存在是分散在世界各地的。

China continues to pour money into developing high-tech weapons, as it struggles to assert itself as a newly emerged superpower. A wide-ranging reform of the military announced in 2013 included plans to streamline⁸ the People’s Liberation Army and emphasise⁹ naval¹⁰ and air power in a force that has traditionally been focused on winning land battles.

随着中国竭力确立自己作为一个新兴超级大国的地位，中国继续投入大量资金发展高科技武器。2013年宣布的全面军事改革计划包括精简解放军，并使这支传统上专注于陆战的军队更加注重海军和空军力量。

The Liaoning, China’s first aircraft carrier, was commissioned and entered service in 2012, while the country’s air force tested its first stealth aircraft, the J-20, in 2011.

中国首艘航母“辽宁号”已于2012年交接并服役，而中国空军在2011年试飞了首型隐形飞机歼20。

Arms procurement¹¹ is also being reformed to emphasise competitive tenders and include the private sector¹² in a push to lower prices and improve the efficiency of budgets.

武器装备的采购也在进行改革，强调竞争性招标，并包括私营部门，以求压低价格，提高预算效率。