
China maintains defense spending increase at 7.2%
Voice of America
Golden Dragon military exercise in Svay Chok village, Kampong Chhnang province, north of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, May 30, 2024. China will boost its defense spending by 7.2% this year.
China will boost its defense spending by 7.2% this year, maintaining a steady growth rate as Beijing faces headwinds from three years of sluggish economic expansion amid mounting geopolitical challenges from Taiwan to Ukraine.

People attend as Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, leads the recitation of the Holy Rosary for Pope Francis' health in St Peter's Square at the Vatican, March 3, 2025. Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, leads the recitation of the Holy Rosary for Pope Francis' health in St Peter's Square at the Vatican, March 3, 2025.

FILE - A farmer carries collected gum arabic from an Acacia tree in the western Sudanese town of El-Nahud that lies in the main farming state of North Kordofan Dec. 18, 2012. Gum arabic is seen on an Acacia tree in the western Sudanese town of El-Nahud that lies in the main farming state of North Kordofan Dec. 18, 2012.