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BEIJING (AP) In a story March 5 about China's military budget, The Associated Press
incorrectly quoted Adam Liff, assistant professor at Indiana University's School of Global and
International Studies. In the paragraph beginning, "In my view ..." the word "myself" should be
"itself." The subsequent paragraph was wrongly attributed to Liff. It does not carry any
attribution.

Related Stories
A corrected version of the story is below:
China defense spending to grow 10.1 percent in 2015
China to raise defense spending by relatively mild 10.1 percent in 2015, amid neighbors unease
By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN

Associated Press
A Chinese military officer talks on his smartphone outside the Great Hall of the People in
Beijing,
BEIJING (AP) China said Thursday it will boost defense spending by 10.1 percent, a smaller
rise than last year but in line with large annual increases that have drawn concern among the
country's neighbors over Beijing's military and territorial ambitions.
Beijing says the higher spending is needed to modernize equipment and improve conditions for
the 2.3 million-member People's Liberation Army, the world's largest standing military.
Observers in the U.S. and the region say the spending reflects the growing power of the world's
second-largest economy and its desire to assert itself in the region and globally.
The last 15 years have seen spending increases as high as 17.7 percent annually, but those have
declined steadily since the global economic crisis of 2008-2009. That's roughly in line with the
overall Chinese economy's settling into what leaders call the "new normal" of slower expansion,
with the government on Thursday setting a target of just 7 percent growth for 2015.
In its budget report to the annual session of the national legislature, the Finance Ministry said
China's forces should be strengthened "so that they are constantly developing their ability to
complete their missions and tasks; so that they safeguard China's sovereignty, security and
territorial integrity; and so that they ensure its peaceful development."
The PLA makes up the largest single delegation to the legislature known as the 2,954-member
National People's Congress, and its leaders have been vocal in the past on the need for rampedup defense spending.

Chinese military officers arrive at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Wednesday, March 4,
201
This year's figure compares to an increase last year of 12.2 percent, but Lt. Gen. Zhong Zhiming
of the northeastern Shenyang Military Region said the smaller increase was understandable
given the slowing of the overall economy.
"The military definitely needs funds for growth, but the military also needs to consider the
situation of ordinary citizens and I think this level is appropriate and acceptable," Zhong told
reporters following the session on the steps of the Great Hall of the People in central Beijing.