Coronavirus effect: China’s defence spending grows at slowest pace since at least 1991

China projected defense spending growth of 6.6% this year, the slowest increase since at least 1991, in a sign of the trade-offs China’s leaders face in confronting unprecedented economic slowdown in the wake of the coronavirus. China's defense spending grew by 7.5% last year. China was the second-largest military spender in the world in 2019, accounting for 14% of global military spending compared with 38% for the US.