Beijing, Mar 4 (PTI) China on Tuesday hinted at increasing its defence budget, the second largest after the US, saying peace and sovereignty can only be "safeguarded with strength".

China will unveil its defence expenditure, a part of the main budget to be presented to the parliament, the National People’s Congress (NPC), by Premier Li Qiang on Wednesday.

Last year, China increased its defence budget by 7.2 per cent to about USD 232 billion (1.67 trillion yuan) -- over three times that of India -- as it continues with the massive modernisation of all its armed forces.

China’s defence budget figures are viewed with scepticism in the light of massive military modernisation including building aircraft carriers, rapid construction of advanced naval ships and modern stealth aircraft being carried out at a feverish pitch by the Chinese military.

Defending the expenditure, Lou Qinjian, spokesperson for the NPC, told media here that "peace needs to be safeguarded with strength".

China, with strong national defence capabilities, can better protect its sovereignty, security and development interests, and better perform its international responsibilities as a major country and safeguard world peace and stability, he said.

He said China's defence expenditure as a percentage of GDP was lower than the world average.

Since 2016, China's annual defence spending has maintained single-digit growth for nine years in a row.

China's defence expenditure as a share of GDP has been kept under 1.5 per cent for many years, he said. PTI KJV PY PY

Defence budget increase signalled as essential to safeguard sovereignty and support accelerated military modernisation. China signalled an intention to raise its defence budget, to be presented to the legislature within the main state budget, with officials justifying higher defence outlays as necessary to protect sovereignty, security and development interests and to fulfil international responsibilities. Officials stated defence spending as a share of GDP remains below the world average and has been kept under a long standing threshold while annual growth has been single digit; observers, however, express scepticism about the official figures given rapid military modernisation.