China on Sunday hiked its defence budget by 7.2 per cent, marginally higher than last year, to 1.55 trillion yuan (about USD 224 billion), marking the eighth consecutive year of increase in its military spending. China last year pegged its defence budget at 1.45 trillion yuan, a 7.1 per cent increase. This year the defence spending is increased to 1.55 trillion yuan. However, in view of the appreciation of the dollar against the yuan, this year’s defence spending of China totalled about USD 224 billion compared to last year’s USD 230 billion. This is the eighth consecutive year that China has announced a single-digit percentage point increase in its military budget.