CHINA-INTERNAL: PLA BUDGET

The Beijing-based Sina Military Network estimates that a large portion of China's defense budget -- officially raised by 10% this year to 889 billion yuan (US$142 billion) -- will be applied to the salaries and living expenses of the 23 million soldiers and officers in the People's Liberation Army, especially as pay levels have been bumped up this year. The most interesting aspect of the budget, however, is how much money will be applied to the procurement of new weapons and equipment. It said in terms of identifable annual expenditures, the PLA Air Force and Navy are said to provide facelifts to around 50 or so J-10 (each costing around 300,000 yuan (US$48,000) and J-11 fighter jets and around 20-30 bombers and large aircraft. Each year, the PLA Navy can also add around one or two Type 052C/DD destroyers, two to three Type 54A frigates and three to four Type 056 corvettes, as well as an unspecified number of conventional and nuclear submarines. This does not take into account the costs of other auxillary ships.





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