China's defense budget for 2007 is expected to hit 350.92 billion yuan (44.94 billion U.S. dollars), 17.8 percent higher than that last year, a spokesman for China's top legislature's annual session said here Sunday.

The figure marks an increase of 52.99 billion yuan (6.79 billion dollars) over that last year.

This year's defense budget accounts for 7.5 percent of the nation's budgeted fiscal expenditure, compared with 7.7 percent in2004, 7.3 percent in 2005 and 7.4 percent in 2006, said Jiang Enzhu, spokesman for the Fifth Session of the Tenth National People's Congress, the top legislature of the country.

The State Council, or the cabinet, is to submit the budget for approval at the annual session of the legislature, which is scheduled to open here Monday.

Jiang said the defense budget is raised to further increase the salaries and allowances for servicemen and army retirees, so as to ensure their income is lifted together with economic and social development.

More money will be spent to improve the army's drilling and living conditions, he said.

The increased part will also be used to upgrade military equipment and improve the troops' capability of fighting a defensive war based on information technologies, he added.

The compensatory rise is designed to reinforce the originally weak basis of military defense, said Liao Xilong, director of the General Logistics Department of the People's Liberation Army.

"It's a moderate increase in step with China's economic development," said Liao, also a member of the Central Military Commission.

Jiang noted that China's military spending remains a low level compared with some other countries, especially the big powers, either in the sense of total sum or the ratio against their GDP (gross domestic product) and total fiscal expenditure.

Taking the year 2005 as example, he said China's military expenditure stood at about 30.6 billion U.S. dollars, only 6.19 percent of the U.S. military spending, 52.59 percent of Britain's and 71.45 percent of France's.

China's military expenditure in 2005 accounted for 1.35 percent of its GDP, the lowest compared with 4.03 percent of the United States, 2.71 percent of Britain and 1.93 percent of France.

In terms of proportion of the military spending in fiscal expenditures, China reported 7.3 percent in 2005, compared with 20.04 percent of the United States, 11.41 percent of France and 9.2 percent of Germany.

Editor: Donald