China set its 2026 national defense budget at 1.94 trillion yuan ($281 billion), marking a 6.9 percent increase from the previous year's executed budget, officials announced on March 3 at the fourth session of the 14th National People's Congress in Beijing [1].
The central government’s portion of the defense budget accounts for 1.91 trillion yuan ($276 billion), up 7 percent from last year. Zhang Xiaogang, presenting the budget, said, "The Chinese government adheres to the principle of coordinating national defense development with economic development and determines the scale of defense spending in a reasonable manner" [1].
The budget aims to align national defense development with the nation’s broader economic modernization goals. Zhang added, "Consolidating national defense and building a strong military constitute a strategic underpinning for advancing Chinese modernization" [1].
Spending increases will support advancing the integration of mechanization, informationization, and intelligentization within the armed forces. The budget also intends to optimize joint operational capabilities as part of ongoing military modernization efforts [1].
Chinese law requires that annual defense expenditure be included in the government budget draft submitted to the National People's Congress for review and approval, and that the total defense budget be made public. This follows that legal framework [1].
The 2026 budget supports China's goal of building the People’s Liberation Army into a world-class military by the PLA’s centenary in 2027, reinforcing efforts to modernize its armed forces in line with that milestone [1].
