China will strengthen its military and build up its arsenal of high-tech weaponry, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao said Friday at the opening of the annual session of parliament.
"Stepping up efforts to modernise our national defence and armed forces is an important guarantee for safeguarding national security and building a moderately prosperous society in all respects," Wen said in his annual address to the nation.
"We will strengthen the building of our armed forces," he told some 5,000 delegates and political advisors to China's annual session of the National People's Congress.
Informed legislators told AFP military spending this year would rise 11.6 percent over 2003, marking a return to double-digit growth in defence expenditures.
The figure was expected to be announced Saturday in Finance Minister Jin Renqing's budget report.
China increased its stated military budget by 9.6 percent in 2003, following a 17.6 percent rise in defence spending in 2002 and a 17.7 percent increase in 2001.
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