China has hiked its defence budget by 7% for 2026 to 1.91 trillion yuan (around $276.9 billion), about 130 billion yuan more than last year. The 7% increase in defence budget is lowest since 6.8% rise in 2021, followed by three consecutive annual rises of 7.2%. China announced a defence budget of 1.78 trillion yuan (around $245 billion) for 2025.